The government is exhausting all efforts to reduce the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles has assured.
In a virtual press conference aired on state-run PTV-4, Nograles said the government is doing its best to ensure the recovery of all patients who contracted the coronavirus disease.
The Palace official also said he agrees with the statement of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the spread of COVID-19 in the Asia-Pacific region is “far from over.”
“We need to make sure that we’re able to minimize the deaths until there is zero death, and there should be more recoveries.”
“Totoo po yun (It’s true), it’s not over yet,” he said. “So, we need to make sure na i-minimize natin up to zero ‘yung deaths at dadami and more recoveries po ang makikita natin (So we need to make sure that we’re able to minimize the deaths until there is zero death, and there should be more recoveries).”
WHO Director for the Western Pacific Takesi Kasai, in a virtual press conference recently said countries from the Asia-Pacific region must brace for a large-scale community transmission of COVID-19.
To contain the spread of COVID19 in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the island of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine until Easter Sunday, April 12.
Kasai said the Philippine government should ensure that “basic lifelines are maintained” to make the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine effective.
Kasai added that the Duterte administration should make “careful” consideration of the epidemiological situation and impact of the lockdown when it decides to lift the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
The possible lifting or extension of the month-long enhanced community quarantine in Luzon depends on the recommendation of the technical working group formed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Nograles said the government will continue to implement measures against COVID-19, until it succeeds in stopping the further transmission of the new coronavirus in the country.
“We are trying to flatten the curve and manage everything that is happening in the country.”
“We are trying to flatten the curve and manage lahat ng nangyayari sa ating bansa (everything that is happening in the country),” he said.
Nograles also renewed his appeal for public cooperation to avoid the possibility that COVID-19 cases in the Philippines could soar to 75,000 by June, as earlier warned by WHO.
“Kaya ginagawa natin ang lahat ng mga hakbang na maaari nating gawin para hindi po tayo umabot sa puntong iyan (We’re undertaking all the necessary measures to avoid that possibility),” he said.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, April 2, reported a total of 2,633 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.
The DOH also said that 107 have so far died of the disease while 51 patients have recovered.