“Inaasahan natin dahil BFF naman tayo ng China, kapag sila ay nagkaroon ng gamot na ganyan ay unahin naman nila tayo. Alangan namang unahin pa nila ‘yung mga kalaban nila,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual briefing.

(We are expecting that because we are BFF of China if they find a cure, they could prioritize us. They won’t prioritize their enemies, right?)

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President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he would lift the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine once an antibody against the virus becomes available.

According to him, a giant pharmaceutical firm, which he declined to name, had already developed an antibody against COVID-19 that might come out in the market by May.

Meanwhile, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has asked those who have recovered from COVID-19 to make blood donations for its study to find the antidote against the virus.

“Ang antibody treatment, kumbaga, clinical studies pa rin ang ginagawa. So hindi pa po napapatunayan na ito ay gamot sa COVID-19 pero sinusuportahan natin ang lahat ng inisyatibo para magkaroon nga ng gamot o vaccine laban sa COVID-19,” Roque said.

(Antibody treatments are still under clinical studies. It hasn’t been proven that it can cure COVID-19 but we support all initiatives in developing a cure or vaccine against COVID-19.)

Duterte had also said the Philippines will participate in efforts to possibly develop medications for the virus as he called for cooperation among countries in developing a vaccine.

All countries should have fair and easy access to vaccines and treatments to be developed, Duterte noted.

On a global scale, over two million people have already been infected with the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which causes the highly contagious respiratory ailment COVID-19.

The Philippines, on the other hand, has so far confirmed 5,453 cases of the disease with 349 fatalities and 353 recoveries.

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KGA