Vice presidential aspirant Willie Ong believes that campaigns will mostly go online amid the sudden uptick of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Ong, in an interview with DZRH, said that he does not think that candidates for the 2022 polls will be going around in January, February, and March due to COVID-19.
"Sa tingin ko wala nanamang iikot sa January, February, March. I don't think may iikot na kandidato because of the COVID. Malamang to online na lang," he said.
(I don’t think anyone would go around in January, February, March. I don’t think a candidate will go around because of COVID. It would likely be online.)
"Siyempre, kalusugan ng tao ang number one sa ‘tin," he said.
(Of course, the health of Filipinos is number one for us.)
Ong, who is running in tandem with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
According to the aspirant, he was likely hit with the Omicron strain of COVID-19.
"Most likely Omicron, kasi ito 'yung marami ngayon. Depende kasi sa curve, nakita natin na sobrang taas ng bilis … so magiging Omicron na yan," he told DZRH in an interview.
(Most likely Omicron, because this is the dominant now. This is dependent on the curve, we saw that there is a quick increase… so it will be Omicron.)
"Saka hindi ganun kalala, although matindi pa rin ito," he added.
(And it is not that severe, although it is still intense.)
Ong said that he still contracted the disease despite always being cautious, warning that almost everyone has a chance of getting COVID-19.
"Kaya 'yung mga hindi tinatamaan, mag-ready na kayo ng mga gamot, kung san isolate, ready lang. Para pag nangyari, hindi na kayo matataranta, meron na kayong preparation," he advised.
(So to those who are not yet infected, ready your medicine, where you will isolate, prepare it. So when it happens, you will not panic, you have prepared.)
The country on Sunday reported 37,154 new cases of COVID-19, with active cases at a record-high with 287,856 or nine percent of the country's total caseload of 3,205,396.
