Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque warned that the catastrophic novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) surge in India could also happen in the Philippines if the public would not adhere to the preventive measures in place and pandemic response would not be ramped up.
“Kapag hindi tayo sumunod doon sa ating minimum public health standard [and] if we do not intensify our COVID-19 pandemic response, like what has happened in India and also in some other countries where the second or third waves are being experienced, that’s a big possibility,” Duque said in an interview on ANC.
Duque was responding to questions on the fears of some experts that the country could also experience a health crisis like what’s happening in India, with the emergence of the ‘double mutant’ COVID-19 variant.
“This is a lesson we all have to learn from what’s happening in other countries, we cannot dig our heads into the sand and make it appear that we’re doing OK all the time. There [are] always ways of doing things better. It’s very dynamic, every day you have to read, every day you have to watch out for what’s happening,” Duque said.
Duque said that there should be unity with the national government and the public.
“[W]e must stand in solidarity with each other in this fight against the pandemic. The war against COVID is really on the shoulders of every person so it cannot just be the work of the national government, local government, private sector, etcetera,” he added.
