Lockdown in the Philippines Reinstated as Health Workers Warn of a Losing Covid-19 Battle

MANILA, KOMPAS.com – Lockdown in the Philippines will once again be reinstated effective Tuesday affecting more than 2 million of the country’s residents or about a quarter of the population.

A second round of lockdown in the Philippines was decided after the recent surge in Covid-19 cases has overwhelmed the country's health workes and hospitals.

Health workers also warned that the Philippines was losing the battle against the Covid-19 virus.

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A large portion of the country loosened social restrictions since June, however, since that period, the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases has increased by fivefold.

The Philippines, similar to Indonesia, now has over 100,000 Covid-19 cases nationwide.

The new restrictions announced by President Rodrigo Duterte late Sunday apply to the capital Manila and four surrounding provinces on the main island of Luzon.

For the next two weeks, public transport, including the ubiquitous jeepney minibuses, will be halted and domestic flights grounded to try and slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 2,000 people in the country.

People have been ordered to stay home unless they need to buy essential goods or exercise outdoors.

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Only a limited number of businesses will be allowed to operate and restaurants will be permitted to do take-aways only.

"We really fell short. Nobody anticipated this," Rodrigo Duterte said, as he rejected calls for the Health Minister Francisco Duque to be sacked.

"Nobody expected that thousands will get sick on a single day."

The move comes after 80 medical associations representing tens of thousands of doctors on Saturday called for Duterte to tighten virus restrictions as hospitals, unable to cope with the influx of patients, turned people away.

On Monday, they welcomed Duterte's decision, saying it will give medical workers breathing room and buy time for the system to handle the surge.

The Philippines announced a record 5,032 new infections on Sunday.

More than 5,000 medical workers have contracted the virus, including 500 in the past week, health department figures show.

A total of 38 have died so far.

Grim trajectory

The government has blamed poor compliance with virus restrictions for the sharp increase in infections which have been concentrated in Manila and the central city of Cebu.

In a bid to curb rampant local transmission, police have been deployed to force people who have tested positive for the virus and cannot self-isolate at home into government-run quarantine facilities.

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Researchers from the University of the Philippines project the total number of infections to top 200,000 by the end of August.

Despite the grim trajectory, Duterte has been reluctant to reimpose a lockdown after the previous stay-at-home order took a heavy toll on the economy and threw millions out of work.

Data to be released on Thursday is expected to show the economy tumbled into recession in the first half. 

(Writer & Editor: Agence France-Presse) 

Source: http://u.afp.com/38tR