Duterte Warns of Arrests as the Philippines Plans to Increase Covid-19 Testing

The tough-talking Rodrigo Duterte warned in April that violators of lockdown rules could be shot for causing trouble.

"We do not have any qualms in arresting people," Duterte said in a recorded address aired on Tuesday. It was a "serious crime" to spread the Covid-19 respiratory disease, he added.

"If you are brought to the police station and detained there, that would give you a lesson for all time," he said of anyone caught not wearing a mask.

Last week, officials said health workers and police would take patients with mild or no symptoms from their homes and place them in isolation centers, raising concerns about possible human rights violations.

(Writers: Neil Jerome Morales, Karen Lema | Editors: Ed Davies, Stephen Coates) 

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-philippines/philippines-to-ramp-up-coronavirus-testing-as-duterte-warns-of-arrests-idUSKCN24M0ET