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MANILA: The Philippines on Monday (September 7) reported its lowest number of new daily COVID-19 cases in nearly eight weeks, but authorities tried to temper optimism and warned of a protracted battle as the pandemic progresses.
The Health Ministry confirmed 1,383 new infections, bringing the total cases to 238,727, the highest in Southeast Asia, but the lowest since July 14.
READ: Philippines Extends Partial COVID-19 Restrictions in Manila Until September 30
It reported 15 new deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,890.
Officials warned against complacency as the economy reopens.
“This COVID-19 challenge could extend into next year. First of all, we cannot be complacent and ignore the threat,” Vivencio Dizon, who heads the government’s testing program, told a news conference.
However, only three-quarters of testing labs submitted results on Monday, down from the 82 percent average from last week.
The Philippines from mid-March to June imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, during which hundreds of new cases were reported daily.
But infections began to rise soon after, when authorities relaxed restrictions in an attempt to revive the country’s troubled economy.
The capital and nearby provinces are still under coronavirus restrictions until the end of September, limiting the movement of non-essential personnel and prohibiting social gatherings to prevent further infections.
International travel and movement between regions remain restricted.
“We are in the process of flattening the curve, but this process can easily be reversed,” said Ranjit Rye, a professor at the University of the Philippines and part of a research group whose projections and recommendations have guided the government’s lockdown measures.
“The government should not overestimate this achievement and underestimate the virus,” Rye told Reuters, adding that the improvement in testing, contact tracing and isolation must continue.
READ: Philippine police receive criticism for plan to monitor quarantined social media
On Sunday, internet users and activists criticized the Philippine police for a plan to monitor social media to enforce quarantine rules, accusing authorities of authoritarianism and double standards.
The plan appears to show that the police agency “wants to use the pandemic to turn us into a police state, where every action is being watched by the authorities,” said Renato Reyes, general secretary of the left-wing activist group Bayan (Nación) on Twitter.
Critics said the plan suggested double standards after a police chief was allowed to keep his post despite disobeying a ban on social gatherings in May.
Photos on the police force’s Facebook page showed Debold Sinas, chief of police for the National Capital Region, celebrating his birthday with dozens of people without masks sitting together, with beer cans on their tables despite the ban on the alcohol.
Criminal and administrative cases have been filed against Sinas, who has apologized.
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