Philippines Becoming A “Worrying Phenomenon” As COVID Cases Keep Rising
“WORRYING PHENOMENON” – As the rest of Asia begin to flatten the coronavirus curve, the Philippines remained with the highest percentage of active cases.
However, despite the warnings from several health experts from both local and foreign groups, the Philippines continued to praise its COVID-19 responses. Still, WHO emphasized that there are still several issues that contribute to the rise in cases.
According to Dr. Rabindra Abeyashinghe, the WHO representative to the Philippines said one of the factors was the “compliance with the quarantining guidelines and the procedures were not optimum in Cebu”.
READ: Cebu City Back Under ECQ Due To COVID-19 Cases
Previously, President Rodrigo Duterte scolded Cebu City for being “Pasaway” amid the coronavirus pandemic. As such, the city was reverted back to having an Enhanced Community Quarantine.
Additionally, Abeyashinghe noted that the stigma that came along with COVID-19 caused some people to refuse to test. Instead, most practice isolation and quarantine.
Based on an article from ABS-CBN, the WHO rep. also said:
We also need to recognize that as we detect more positive cases, we seem to be seeing a concentration of those in some areas of the country, namely in the National Capital Region, at this point of time, and in Region 7, especially Cebu City
Furthermore, he cited an increased rise in confirmed cases from Region IV-A (Calabarzon), Region III (Central Luzon), Region X (Northern Mindanao), Region XII (Soccsksargen) and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas). As such, he highlighted that this was evident of a “worrying phenomenon”.
As per the article, he added:
The message here is if we want to minimize the damage to economies, we need to work individually and communally together to practice what we need to do from a physical distancing point of view.
READ ALSO: WHO To Philippines: Quarantine Ineffective, No Decrease In Cases
