MANILA, Philippines — Despite the persistently increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said that he has to reopen the economy in “a timetable of just weeks” because “we cannot forever be in the strict protocols.”
This comes even as the Philippines recorded earlier Thursday its highest daily new COVID-19 cases since September at 3,749, and nationwide active cases also hitting a record 47, 769.
Duterte, however, also admitted that he is in a “quandary”on what to do because the government is only in the early stages of vaccinating Filipinos against the potentially deadly respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus SARS…
Keep on reading: Duterte bent on reopening economy soon even as COVID-19 cases in PH continue to rise