PH COVID-19 capital? Foreign countries see rise in new cases, too — Palace
By Deighton Acuin and Archie Villaflores
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| PHOTO: Philippine Daily Inquirer |
Malacañang took a swipe at a comic strip calling the Philippines the world’s COVID-19 capital, urging the public to watch international news to see other countries were also facing a surge in infected individuals.
During an online Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the remark after the online news agency Rappler published a comic strip showing a young girl waking up from a nightmare where the country is called the COVID-19 capital of the world. He said the country is ranked 30th with the most infections.
“Hindi po totoo na COVID capital tayo,” Roque said.
“Buong mundo po may problema sa new variant, hindi tayo nag-iisa.”
“Kinakailangan, ‘wag lang lokal na telebisyon ang panoorin niyo, panoorin niyo rin po ang CNN at ang BBC nang makita niyo na ang dami na ring bansa sa daigdig ngayon ang nagla-lockdown,” Roque added.
Citing data from John Hopkins University, the Philippines ranked 30th in the most cases worldwide with a total tally of 721,892.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) data showed the country ranked 22nd in a number of active cases with a total of 105,568.
Moreover, the Philippines ranked 134th in the number of cases per million population while 82nd in case fatality rate with 1.8 percent.
On Saturday, March 27, the government placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under one-week Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in a bid to address the skyrocketing additional cases.
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