Asean reported over 25,000 Covid-19 cases on Saturday
The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 14.56 million across Southeast Asia, with 25,329 new cases reported on Saturday (December 18). New deaths are at 422, bringing accumulated Covid-19 deaths in Asean to 299,774.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has assured those affected by Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) that he is trying to look for funds for their aid, saying that government coffers have already been “immensely depleted” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During a briefing on the disaster situation in Visayas and Northern Mindanao on Friday, Duterte said that as soon as he gets the funding, assistance will be sent to the provinces ravaged by the super typhoon.
"We are trying to raise the money, I was also late (because) I was talking with the budget, you know our budget has been depleted immensely because of the Covid, we really spent our money," he said.
"This Covid really emptied our coffers. So we’re trying to screen how much we can raise so that we can marshal it to the areas affected."
