Roque: No contradiction among gov't officials on what caused surge in COVID-19 cases

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied on Thursday that government officials are at odds on what caused the COVID-19 surge in the last two weeks even if Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Trade chief Ramon Lopez are saying different things.

“Wala pong contradictory. Kahit sino nagsasabi na ang new variants [of coronavirus] at increased mobility ang dahilan sa pagtaas ng mga kaso (There is no contradiction. Everybody is saying that the surge is due to new variants and increased mobility),” Roque said.

“Hindi sila contradictory (There are no contradictory statements),” he reiterated.

Duque said on Monday that easing of COVID-19 restrictions to kick start the economy led to the exponential increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

Two days later, Lopez insisted that the reopening of the economy did not lead to the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

“Ang balita po, ang opinyon from WHO sabi na po mismo ng representative ng WHO dito na si Dr. Rabindra (the surge in cases is) due to vaccine optimism…. Siguro kasama na rin po ‘yong matagal nilang pagka-lockdown at napansin ho natin ito dahil dumadalas na ho ang mga nagkikita-kita… Kaya po diyan sa mga gathering na ‘yan at komunidad na medyo low compliance, ‘yan po ang nagiging sanhi ng new cases,” he added.

(The opinion of WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra is that the surge in cases is due to vaccine optimism. Maybe this also includes lockdown fatigue and more people see each other often. And these gatherings and the community with low compliance to health protocols are the reasons behind the new cases.)

The Philippines has been recording 4,000 to 8,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in the last two weeks, prompting the government to prevent non-essential trips to and from NCR Plus bubble—an area composed of Metro Manila and adjacent provinces Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite.

As of Thursday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is at 99,891, the highest figure recorded this year.—AOL, GMA News