‘LOCKDOWN FATIGUE BEHIND RISE IN CASES’

Compliance cannot be monitored at private gatherings, says Philippines trade secretary

THE surge in Covid-19 cases should be blamed on “secret parties” and not the reopening of the economy in the Philippines. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said people let their guard down against the disease during private engagements, according to the Inquirer.net.

In an interview over DZRH radio, Lopez said this scenario was caused by “lockdown fatigue”.

“Many people attend reunions with former classmates or relatives.

“There were a lot of secret parties. So this is where the compliance rate became low because they were meeting in private.”

Lopez said the reopening of the economy towards the end of last year did not lead to a significant increase in Covid-19 cases, compared to the spike in cases now being reported by the Department of Health (DoH).

“It is better in restaurants, actually. In public places, you can monitor the compliance.

“But in private, they may not wear masks all throughout. They will just eat and drink. There were a lot of activities like that, so there is an increase in cases now.”

The Philippines reached a new all-time high in its single-day increase of Covid-19 cases on Monday at 8,019, as the total case count nationwide now stands at 671,792.

The DoH Covid-19 bulletin indicated that there are currently 80,970 active patients, which is 12.1 per cent of the total recorded infections in the country.

Meanwhile the DoH said that an additional 103 new coronavirus disease patients were able to recover, driving the nationwide tally of recovered patients to 577,850, while four more fatalities brought the death toll to 12,972.

Because of the increase in cases, the government has placed Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under a general community quarantine bubble from Monday until April 4.