MANILA - The Philippines aims to flatten the COVID-19 curve by end of the month, the chair of the National Task Force (NTF) against the pandemic said Sunday.

Researchers earlier said the country may flatten the pandemic curve by September as the virus' reproduction rate continued to decline.

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Local government executives, especially village officials, are the key in implementing anti-virus measures, said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who chairs the NTF Against COVID-19.

Government had enforced a community-focused response against the pandemic to prevent local transmission of the virus.

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“Ang ating layunin sa buwan na ito ay mag-flatten tayo o hindi kaya mas maganda kung maibaba natin iyong ‘curve’ para siguro pagkatapos ng buwan ng Setyembre ay makapunta na tayo sa MGCQ at medyo maluwagluwag ang buhay ng mga tao," he said during a visit to Caloocan City on Saturday.

(Our goal this month is to flatten the curve, or it is even better if we can decrease the curve so that we can go to MGCQ after September and the people’s lives can get a little bit better.)

"Ang mga frontliners natin ay ang ating mga barangay officials na nagpapatupad ng quarantine protocols, pagsusuot ng face masks, social distancing, sanitation, at iyong mga dapat nating gawin."

(The frontliners are our barangay officials who implement quarantine protocols, wearing of face masks, social distancing, sanitation, and other things that we need to do.)

Aside from the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team visit, Lorenzana also participated in the government's face mask distribution project.

There is still no medicine and vaccine for COVID-19.

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The Philippines as of Saturday reported 234,570 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 161,668 recoveries and 3,790 deaths.

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Its first confirmed coronavirus infection was reported on Jan. 30 in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the virus is believed to have first emerged.

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