First word

THE statement yesterday of Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. that the government is looking for data to indicate that relaxing further the restrictions in Metro Manila will not result in a second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections was incredibly obtuse. (He suggests that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, or IATF-EID, will simultaneously consider further relaxation of the economic lockdown of the capital and prevent a second wave of viral infections in the metropolis.)