Duterte to public amid rising Covid-19 cases: ‘Please guard yourself’ 

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte again advised the public to guard themselves against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) after the country has seen a rise in cases in the recent days.

“You have only one life to live so please guard yourself,” The President said in his public address on Monday.

Duterte said the number of Covid-19 cases in the country is increasing because of the public’s failure to follow health protocols.

“Anong dahilan nito? Well, ‘yong hindi maniwala sa social distancing, hindi naman naniniwala sa personal hygiene (What caused this? Well, other people do not believe that they should practice social distancing, that they should have good personal hygiene).”

“Kasi noong mga holidays, dikit-dikit nga ang tao. Ito na ‘yong ngayon. Ito, ito na ngayon ang resulta, nagtaas na kasi you abandoned the protocols, that’s number one (During the holidays people were not observing social distancing. This is the result, cases increased because protocols were abandoned, that’s number one).”

He advised the public to wear face masks, wash their hands and observe social distancing to stop the spread of the virus.

He also advised the public to listen to the government, especially the health department.

“Put your trust on the advice of government people, especially if coming from the Secretary of Health,” he said.

“We’re trying to find out a way of effectively combating this new development sa mga variants sa Covid-19. Sana, sana kung makatulong lang kayo sa bayan, sumunod lang kayo at medyo mapababa natin ang kaso ng Covid (We are trying to find out a way to effectively combat the new variants of Covid-19. I hope you can help the country by following the rules as this will reduce the number of Covid cases),” Duterte said.

In his public address, Duterte also said the role of barangay (villages) in enforcing pandemic rules is crucial in addressing the spread of the virus.

“Kung ginusto ng lahat ng mga barangay captains na magtrabaho, really work at it, baka talagang ma — well, decrease the number of transmission (If barangay captains will work at it, we will be able to reduce the number of cases).”

The health department has recorded over 3,000 Covid-19 cases for four straight days since Friday.

On Monday 3,356 new Covid-19 infections were recorded. This brings the total confirmed cases to 597,763.