Following a three-month surge in COVID-19 infections, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Thursday that non-vaccinated people will be jailed if they refuse to obey stay-at-home orders.
In a televised speech to the nation, Duterte said he was requesting community leaders to hunt identify unvaccinated individuals and confine them to their homes.
“If he refuses, if he goes out his house and goes around the community, he can be restrained. If he refuses, the captain is empowered now to arrest recalcitrant persons,” Duterte said.
On Thursday, the Philippines’ health ministry reported the largest number of daily coronavirus infections since September 26, with 17,220 cases, including those caused by COVID-19’s Omicron variant.
The number of cases has risen to almost 2.88 million, with over 51,700 deaths, making it the second-highest COVID-19 infection and death toll in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.
“I am responsible for the safety and well being of every Filipino,” Duterte added as he challenged those who disapprove of his orders to file a case against him.
At the end of last year, 49.8 million people, or 45 percent of the country’s 110 million residents, had received their full vaccination. Unvaccinated people in Manila’s capital region are only allowed to leave their houses for urgent travels under current regulations.
Duterte’s bellicose rhetoric is well-known. Last year, he threatened those who refused to get inoculated with jail or an injection of Ivermectin, an anti-parasite medicine commonly used to treat animals, if they refused to get vaccinated.
However, his most recent words highlighted the mounting anxiety of his government about the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, which health experts warn could once again overwhelm the country’s healthcare infrastructure.
The Philippines has so far discovered 43 cases of Omicron, both domestically and internationally, forcing the government to tighten restrictions this week.
Image Credit: Getty
You were reading: Philippines: Unvaccinated Who Skip Lockdown Could Face Jail