'Shoot them dead': Philippine President Duterte warns against violating COVID-19 lockdown

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte threatened of shooting anyone who attempts to 'create trouble' during the month-long lockdown. In a televised national address on Wednesday, Duterte ordered the country's security forces to 'shoot down' the troublemakers. 

"Let this be a warning to all. Follow the government at this time because it is critical that we have ordered," he said. "And do not harm the health workers, the doctors because that is a serious crime. My orders to the police and the military, if anyone creates trouble, and their lives are in danger: shoot them dead," the Phillippine president added. 

This is not the first time that the Philippines' Duterte ordered the security forces to shoot down civilians. In 2016-2017, his administration reportedly permitted the extrajudicial killing of drug dealers. 

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Coronavirus in the Philippines

The World Health Organisation (WHO) notified that 96 people have died from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The first case of Coronavirus was reported in late-January and the first death a few days after in the country of 105 million people. Over 900,000 cases of Coronavirus have been officially detected worldwide. At least 905,589 cases including 45,719 deaths have been recorded in 187 countries and territories across the globe. 203,608 cases and 4,476 deaths are recorded in the United States, followed by Italy with 110,574 detected cases and the highest death toll with 13,155 cases. Meanwhile, Spain confirmed 102,136 cases including 9,053 deaths.

The former hotspot of Coronavirus, China has 81,554 cases and 3,312 deaths. A 57-year-old female shrimp seller in China''s Wuhan city, the originating point of the global Coronavirus pandemic, has been identified as one of the first victims of COVID-19. The coronavirus ''patient zero'', who made a full recovery in January after month-long treatment, believes the Chinese government could have checked the spread of the disease had it acted sooner.

The COVID-19 ''patient zero'' believes she got the disease from a toilet she shared with meat sellers in the market. She said several vendors trading close to her also contracted the killer disease. In a release, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission confirmed Wei was among the first 27 patients to test positive for COVID-19 and one of 24 cases directly related to the market.

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(With PTI inputs)