MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday eased the strict blockade of coronaviruses in and around the capital Manila, and his government promised a “softness” of the coVID-19 fight that includes intensified evidence.
Duterte, in a televised speech, said it is obligatory to reopen the economy with small and medium-sized enterprises “barely surviving,” while calling on public opinion to “follow the guarantees.”
The Philippines, which was once one of Asia’s fastest developing economies, fell into recession for the first time in 29 years with a record drop in the last quarter due to the pandemic-induced blockade.
The Philippines, which has the number of coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia, has so far recorded a total of 164474 infections and the number of deaths from COVID-19 has increased to 2,681, according to the knowledge of the Ministry of Health.
Quarantine measures were re-imposed in the capital and neighboring provinces from 4 to 18 August after an organization of doctors and nurses warned that the fitness formula could collapse.
Harry Roque, Duterte’s spokesman said, the government used the two-week window to “refresh” and “restart” their responses to the coronavirus pandemic, to allow businesses to resume and allow more people to return to work.
According to Roque, according to the comfort regulations that will take effect on August 19, a maximum of business will be allowed to reopen, adding that cateringArray will also be allowed to religious whenever places of worship restrict general assistance to 30% of the capacity of a building.
“We will accentuate our evidence,” Roque said, adding that the government will continue to conduct door-to-door checks to insinuate COVID-19 patients with symptoms or non-existent so they can be escorted to isolation centers.
The government has reviewed more than 1.9 million other people and aims to control another 10 million people, nearly one-tenth of the population, until the last quarter of next year.
In the same direction, Duterte also thanked Russia and China for providing the Philippines with COVID-19 vaccines as available.
He said he would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping for a line of credit so the government could simply get the vaccine.
Reports by Karen Lema; Editing via Angus MacSwan
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