Harry Roque

Roque bucks lockdown amid new COVID variant

May 1, 2022 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 299 views

LOCKDOWN should not be implemented anew with the spread of a coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) as it would affect the livelihoods of Filipinos, UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque said Sunday.

“New variant is nothing new. Mask, iwas at bakuna pa rin. Lockdown should not be an option. Ingat buhay para sa hanapbuhay,” Roque said.

“Hindi na po tayo maaaring mag-lockdown dahil labis pong muling maaapektuhan ang mga kababayan natin at maaapektuhan din po ang kanilang kabuhayan,” he also said.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health (DoH) reported that the country’s first BA.2.12 Omicron subvariant case was a fully vaccinated woman who did not undergo quarantine upon arrival in the Philippines because she initially showed no symptoms.

Roque reiterated that people should learn to live with COVID-19 and be careful to prevent acquiring the disease.

“Ang talagang pangunahing plataporma natin ay ‘yung ‘Ingat buhay para sa hanapbuhay.’ Dito sa pandemya, importante na pangalagaan natin ang buhay natin laban sa COVID19,” he said.

“Kinakailangan mabuhay tayo kasama itong pandemyang ito. Hindi po tama na ang ninais lang natin ay mapababa ang numero ng COVID at mamamatay naman ang ating mga kababayan dahil sa gutom,” he further said.

On Tuesday, the independent analytics firm OCTA Research warned that COVID-19 cases might reach 5,000 to 10,000 per day once the new Omicron subvariants enter the Philippines.

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