As of Tuesday, more than 27 million Filipinos and Filipinos are called to stay at home. The country is therefore reconfiguring a quarter of its population after a cry of alarm from medical associations, faced with a health system that risks collapsing in the face of the influx of patients.
Since the start of June, when most of the country emerged from one of the longest and strictest lockdowns on the planet, infections have quintupled, surpassing the 100,000 case mark. On Sunday evening, President Rodrigo Duterte announced a reconfinement in the capital, Manila, as well as in four surrounding provinces, on the main island of Luzon.
"We were not up to the task"
For the next two weeks, public transport, including minibuses, will be stopped and local flights will be interrupted. The authorities have asked the population to stay at home, and only go out to buy basic necessities or exercise. Only a limited number of businesses will be able to open and restaurants will only be able to make deliveries.
“We weren't up to it. Nobody expected this, ”said President Duterte, who however rejected calls to dismiss Health Minister Francisco Duque. “No one expected thousands of people to fall ill on the same day,” he added.
A record of cases and 5,000 caregivers infected
On Saturday, 80 medical associations warned in an open letter to the president that the Philippines was losing the battle against Covid-19, calling on the head of state to return to stricter containment, while the number of cases of contamination increase and hospitals, overwhelmed, refuse patients.
Health professionals send "a message of distress to the nation, our health system has been overwhelmed", wrote these associations which represent tens of thousands of doctors. On Monday, these associations welcomed the president's decision, believing that it would give medical staff a break.
The Philippines announced a record 5,032 cases on Sunday. Some 2,000 people in total have died from the disease in that country. More than 5,000 healthcare professionals have contracted the virus, including 500 in the past week alone, according to the Ministry of Health. Thirty-eight of them died.
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