Philippine minister Ramon Lopez announces new coronavirus measures – then admits he is infected
- Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez spent more than an hour in an online briefing painting a rosy picture of his country’s coronavirus pandemic response
- Then he admits under questioning that he is self isolating after testing positive
The admission by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez that he had tested positive for Covid-19 came at the end of a rambling online briefing hosted by the Presidential Communications and Operations Office which was short on measurable goals and long in expressions of hope.
Lopez began the briefing by announcing the government would now require all commercial and government establishments to use the locally made StaySafe App to help in contact tracing efforts and that compliant establishments would be allowed to operate after being given “safety seals”.
He then went on to wax lyrical about what the future held for the country’s pandemic-ravaged economy, which is facing the biggest contraction, of 7.8 per cent on some measures, of all the Southeast Asian nations.
When a reporter asked what level of infections the government would need to see over the Christmas period if it were to ease lockdown by the new year Lopez replied that “hopefully, we have good news next year”, in a reference to the possible roll-out of a coronavirus vaccine, and said there were “good signs” for the economy such as the easing of the unemployment rate.