In a span of two and a half hours, the internet has witnessed a thrilling saga, all thanks to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who gave us quite the geometry refresher.
During a pre-State of the Nation Address forum, Sec. Duque announced that the country has flattened the curve since April―which baffled many, considering that the Philippines now has a total tally of 58,850 COVID-19 cases.
Senators, who seemed just as confused as the rest of social media, wasted no time to correct Duque. Sen. Miguel Zubiri could only say “OMG” (a mood), questioning the basis of the statement.
“Is it the fact that the cases in April were at an average of two hundred a day as compared to the daily average of over a thousand cases today? Or is it the fact that we will soon be number one in South East Asia in terms covid cases?” he said.
Zubiri later apologized for his statements, reminding Duque that the latter’s statements should just stick with the facts.
Enter Sen. Kiko Pangilinan who had something to say about the “otherworldly” statement.
Sen. Sonny Angara also chimed in, just as unconvinced, telling reporters that he would have believed Duque a few weeks ago when COVID-19 wards in hospitals were not as occupied.
The plot thickened as Duque later retracted his statement. In a series of tweets, he clarified that based on case doubling time, the curve was “bent,” not flattened as he’d initially said, in April after enhanced community quarantine was imposed in March.
To conclude this epic tale, we find Duque in his own redemption arc, admitting the curve was never flattened to begin with.
“Hindi naman talaga flattened [ang curve], ‘yun ‘yung gusto kong ilinaw. Lumiko lang. Nagkamali ako doon kaya ‘yun ang gusto kong linawin,” he said in an interview with Teleradyo.
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Photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response/Unsplash