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As COVID-19 cases soar, Duterte notes Philippine death toll lower than other countries

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Rodrigo Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center in Matina, Davao City on Aug. 30, 2021. Simeon Celi, Presidential Photo" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/08/31/20210830-duterte-iatf-minb14.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center in Matina, Davao City on Aug. 30, 2021. Simeon Celi, Presidential Photo</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — As the Philippines&#x27; COVID-19 cases hit new records, President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday noted that local deaths due to the respiratory disease were lower compared to other countries. &quot;Hirap ang America ngayon. Ang Europe is suffering from a—maraming mas namatay; Turkey, marami ang patay; Saudi Arabia, mas marami ang patay,&quot; he said around an hour into his taped speech that aired on Tuesday. (America is suffering. Europe is suffering from a—more died; many died in Turkey; more died in Saudi Arabia.) &quot;Ito, atin, hawa lang. Ang patay natin, hindi masyado ganoon karami,&quot; the President said.(With us, it&#x27;s just infection. Our deaths are not that many.)At least 33,333 people in the Philippines have succumbed to COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the health department. The Philippines on Monday confirmed its <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/30/21/philippines-lists-record-high-22366-new-covid-19-cases">highest ever</a> single-day tally of new cases at 22,366, which raised to total confirmed infections to about 1.97 million. Duterte acknowledged authorities &quot;need to recalibrate our response&quot; whether or not the spike in COVID-19 cases was due to the highly infectious variant of the disease. &quot;We are also evaluating whether granular or localized lockdowns would work best in our current situation. Kailangan pag-aralan ito ng task force,&quot; he said. (The task force needs to study this.) In the meantime, Metro Manila and 15 other areas will remain under the second strictest of 4 lockdown levels until Sept. 7, the task force earlier said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/28/21/ncr-15-other-areas-under-mecq-until-sept-7">Metro Manila, 15 other areas under MECQ until Sept. 7— Palace</a></li></ul>Duterte urged the public to stick to health standards and get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus at the soonest.The Duterte administration is facing a Senate inquiry into how it spend pandemic funds. The country had &quot;nothing&quot; in supplies when the pandemic erupted, said the President. &quot;The same people criticizing today are the same people telling us last year that we were too slow and we’re not prepared,&quot; he said of the probe.&quot;Sino bang prepared, preparado nito? America? Name a country that is prepared, mag-resign ako,&quot; he added. (Who is prepared here? America? Name a country that is prepared, I will resign.)<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1760916" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Video courtesy of PTV</div>

As the Philippines' COVID-19 cases hit new records, President Rodrigo Duterte said local deaths were lower compared to other countries. 

As COVID-19 cases soar, Duterte notes Philippine death toll lower than other countries

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As COVID-19 cases soar, Duterte notes Philippine death toll lower than other countries

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 31, 2021 11:27 AM PHT

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Updated Aug 31, 2021 11:36 AM PHT

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