MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. blames the resurgence of the new coronavirus in the Philippines on “health bureaucrats,” who, he claims, have wasted the gains of the lockdown imposed in March to halt the spread in the country of the COVID-19 pathogen. ADVERTISEMENTMaria Ressa, president and CEO of the news site Rappler, last week said the lockdown was wasted. “Yes, it was wasted; that’s accepted by [the task force]; partly paralysis partly self-satisfied health bureaucrats—none competent epidemiologists from say Harvard,” Locsin said. He said the Philippines “was among [the] first to realize” the coronavirus onslaught in January, “but turned over solution to health bureaucrats—the inert merchants of death. The DOH reported 398 new recoveries, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 22,465, and 58 fatalities, raising the death toll to 1,831.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 19, 2020 19:34 UTC