Tolentino: “Lapses were made, I have to admit”
FRANCIS TOLENTINO – The former MMDA chairman-turned-senator described the COVID-19 response of the government as “hit and miss.”
The COVID-19 pandemic remains to be the biggest challenge that the country is facing today. This disease that started way back in 2019 in Wuhan, China has placed a lot of lives at risk and has even taken the lives of many people.
Tolentino, an ally of the present administration, admitted in an interview with ANC that there were lapses in terms of the government’s COVID-19 response.
He added: “Correct measures were likewise made. So, I would probably describe it as a hit-and-miss in some areas.”
Tolentino also called for the abolishment of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases because for him, it is time to use a new approach in responding to the pandemic.
He said it would be better to let the local government units (LGUs), the Department of Health, and the Department of Local Interior Government carry out their mandate during the pandemic.
Tolentino said that for now, he said, the IATF is standing like a government that is not supposed to bet.
As of Tuesday, September 28, there are 13,846 new cases, 39,890 new recoveries, and 91 additional deaths. All in all, the country has 2,522,965 recorded cases while 132,139 are still active.
But in order to combat the rapid increase of coronavirus disease, COVID-19 vaccination has rolled out across the country.
Among those who were on the priority list of the COVID-19 vaccination program are medical frontliners, persons with comorbidities, and senior citizens.
Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V are some of the vaccines available in the country.
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