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Covid-19: Duterte asks Filipinos to skip Christmas festivities

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AP

AP

Manila - The president says even with the restrictions, it is still up to the people to keep themselves safe

Published: Tue 8 Dec 2020, 9:01 AM

Updated: Tue 8 Dec 2020, 9:02 AM

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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appealed to the public to skip their Christmas get-togethers and other festivities to avoid spreading the Covid-19 pandemic this Christmas season, local media has reported.

Duterte held a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday. In his public address later, he apologised to the people for they will not be able to spend the holiday season the way they used to.


“We are saying sorry that there will be a curtailment of so many things that you have been used to during Christmas time,” he said, adding that it is the first time that “the government is asking something from you and it is for your own good”.

The President asked the public to skip the usual holiday festivities to protect themselves from Covid-19. “You avoid it because it is for your own good and for the good of the community and eventually for the good of the country,” he added.

Duterte said that even with the restrictions, it is still up to the people to keep themselves safe.

“Nobody can do it for you. You and you alone will be responsible for your safety and health,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) has discouraged the public from being complacent this holiday season and asked them to limit celebrations to immediate family members.



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