As the Philippines tries to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, Vice President Leni Robredo says the government should listen to the recommendations of public health experts with regard to vaccine rollout, mass testing, and contact tracing.
But the problem, she said on Sunday, is that the government is 鈥渢oo defensive鈥� whenever it is called out for bungling the reopening of the economy.
She also noted a lot of 鈥渂ottlenecks鈥� in vaccine deployment, including the lack of trained personnel to deliver vaccines and lack of vaccination training centers.
On Sunday, the Department of Health reported 7,757 new cases, the second highest single-day tally of new cases since the start of the world鈥檚 longest lockdown.
Amid the more alarming surge in infections, both the Palace and the country鈥檚 pandemic managers had maintained that they had done their best to contain COVID-19.
But more than a year into the pandemic, Robredo said the country still hasn鈥檛 doubled its testing rate from last year, nor improved its contact tracing鈥攁ll basic requirements in reducing transmissions.