Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said all countries in the world have imposed lockdowns to counter the spread of COVID-19.
AUTHOR, VERA FILES, DATE, March 27, 2020, SHARE, President Rodrigo Duterte erroneously claimed that every single country in the world has imposed a lockdown in response to the rising cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)., STATEMENT, In a recorded press briefing aired at 1 a.m. on March 20, Duterte called on all Filipinos, particularly local government  officials, to “abide by the directives of the national government,” being the ones at the forefront of implementing the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine., Duterte said:, FACT, As of March 19, only 23 countries out of 197 worldwide are on lockdown while some are implementing travel restrictions, according to several news reports., , In the Philippines, Interior and Local Government Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya explained that a lockdown refers to the restriction of people’s travel from and to a certain area by authorities. Duterte initially placed Metro Manila on community quarantine, then later expanded it to cover the entire Luzon island. Several local government units (LGUs) in Visayas and Mindanao have also placed their respective areas on lockdown. (See VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Understanding ‘community quarantine’ and ‘social distancing’ policies), In an interview with VOX, Lindsay Wiley, a health law professor at the American University Washington College of Law, said “lockdown” is not a technical term used by public health officials or lawyers:, , Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he is not considering a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead focusing on social distancing, according to news reports., South Korea has tackled the global pandemic by providing free mass diagnostic testing to its citizens. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Panelo falsely claims South Korea imposed ‘total lockdown’ to control spread of COVID-19), The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the pandemic is “accelerating” with more than 540,000 confirmed cases globally,  according to a Johns Hopkins COVID-19 case tracker., WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “possible to change the trajectory”:, To win, he said “we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics – testing every suspected case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact.”, Ghebreyesus recommended six key actions to help suppress and stop transmission, and to stop the virus’ resurgence when lockdown measures are lifted:, , Sources, Presidential Communications Operations Office, Message of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to local government units on implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, March 19, 2020, Radio Television Malacañang Youtube, Message of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to local government units on implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, March 19, 2020, Encyclopedia Britannica, List of Countries, ANC 24/7 Youtube, DILG Usec. Malaya: No impending lockdown in any part of Metro Manila | Matters of Fact, March 11, 2020, Washington College of Law website, Lindsay F. Wiley, VOX, Italy and China used lockdowns to slow the coronavirus. Could we?, March 10, 2020, Reuters.com, Indonesia not considering lockdown as ministers tested for COVID-19, March 16, 2020, The Jakarta Post, No lockdown for Indonesia, Jokowi insists as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, March 24, 2020, Republika.co.id, Why Indonesia Does Not Impose Lockdown?, March 24, 2020, Johns Hopkins University, Coronavirus Resource Center, March 26, 2020, "World Health Organization, WHO Director-Generals opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19, March 23, 2020", "Business Insider, At least 20% of the global population is on coronavirus lockdown — heres our constantly updated list of countries and restrictions, March 25, 2020", Aljazeera.com, Coronavirus: Travel restrictions, border shutdowns by country, March 24, 2020, Inquirer.net, 1.7 billion told to stay home worldwide over virus, March 24, 2020, Agence France-Presse, Nearly one billion people confined to homes globally to curb virus, March 21, 2020, "World Health Organization, WHO Director-Generals opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19, March 25, 2020", , (Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.), , , TAGS, FOR FURTHER READING, Reports, Fact-Check, COVID-19 Watch, Mar 17, 2020, 10:51 PM, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo wrongfully attributed the decline of new COVID-19 cases in…, VERA FILES, Reports, Fact-Check, COVID-19 Watch, Apr 22, 2020, 5:30 PM, President Rodrigo Duterte repeated his erroneous claim that the Philippines was the first to impose…, VERA FILES, "Editors Pick, Reports, Fact-Check, COVID-19 Watch", Mar 18, 2020, 4:26 PM, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon island under an “enhanced community quarantine” on…, VERA Files, Founded in March 2008, VERA Files is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”, Email us at newsroom@verafiles.org, MEMBER, , Copyright © 2020 Vera Files. All Rights Reserved.
VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte wrongly claims all countries imposed lockdown to counter COVID-19 - Vera Files