Sinabi ni Pangulong Duterte na ang sitwasyon ng coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sa bansa ay "becoming more alarming every day."

Binanggit niya ito matapos makapagtala ang Department of Health (DOH) nitong Lunes, Enero 10, ng bagong record-high na COVID-19 cases na lumagpas sa 33,000.

“There is no denying that the COVID-19 situation in the country is becoming more alarming every day. Madaling sabi, may problema tayo," aniya sa kanyang pre-taped "Talk to the People" public briefing nitong Lunes ng gabi.

“New cases of COVID-19 continue to rise daily from more than 21,000 in January to more than 33,000 today. We also continue to see a spike in the number of active cases in the same period from around 77,000 to more than 157,000,” dagdag pa niya.

Nakapagtala ang awtoridad ng 33,169 na bagong kaso ng COVID-19 nitong Lunes.

Ayon kay Duterte, ang pagdating ng mga iba't ibang mutations o variants ng COVID-19 ang nagpahirap sa sitwasyon.

Sa parehong briefing, sinabi ni DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III na naging dominant strain ng COVID-19 ang mas nakahahawang Omicron variant. 

“I hope that’s the same banana that is applicable to all ‘yung mga gamot natin," ani Duterte.

“Meaning, there is one COVID positive person that can in — that can be able or can infect more than five persons. Ang taas naman nito, tsk," dagdag pa niya.

“Our positivity rate as of Jan. 10 was about 46 percent. Meaning that at least four out of 10 persons tested for COVID-19 will turn out to be positive,” sinabi rin ng pangulo.

“So what we did was after placing Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna under Alert Level 3 to reduce the mobility and the exposure of the coronavirus. More localities will be placed under the stricter quarantine period pagka talagang grabe ang sitwasyon," aniya pa.

Ellson Quismorio