Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) wearing protective masks stand outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 18, 2020. Eloisa Lopez, Reuters
MANILA - The Philippines is one of the model countries in preventing the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.
According to Duque, the preventive measures imposed by the Philippines against COVID-19 was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as effective and imitable.
"Sinasabi nila, dapat siguro, gawin [ng mundo] yung ginagawa ng Pilipinas. 'Yun yung sinasabi nila na, halimbawa [tayo]," he told radio DZMM.
Duque added the Philippines is one of nine countries that have not yet reported any case of local transmission of COVID-19.
Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO representative to the Philippines, earlier told ABS-CBN News the Philippine government has already shown that it “has the capacity to implement a good quarantine program” after it repatriated 30 Filipinos from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of COVID-19.
“We believe they (Philippines) understand what needs to be done,” Abeyasinghe said, adding that precautions are also in place to prevent spillover.
The new coronavirus has mainly battered China, causing 78,596 cases and 2,746 deaths. But it has spread to another 44 countries with 3,246 cases and 51 deaths reported.
--With reports from Kristine Sabillo, ABS-CBN News and Reuters
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