The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country have already exceeded the “peak” of infection recorded last year, with most cases being reported in Metro Manila, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, March 24.
“Our cases are still increasing at a fast rate. And iyong nakita natin last week, yong peak natin noong nakaraang linggo ay humigit na doon sa peak na nakita natin first week of August 2020 (And what we saw last week,----our peak last week is more than the peak we saw in the first week of August 2020),” said DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in a press briefing.
In her presentation, De Guzman noted that the country has an average of “5,644 new daily cases for the third week of March,” which is “4.4 times higher” if compared in the start of January.
De Guzman said that the National Capital Region (NCR) is now under the “high-risk” classification based on “how fast the case increases and the size of the affected population.”
Despite the increasing number of cases, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the healthcare utilization rate nationwide is not yet at “high-risk.”
“Pero pag tiningnan natin specific for example NCR, nakikita na natin yung pagtaas ng utilization (But when we look specifically - for example NCR, we can already see the increase in utilization),” said Vergeire.
“Subalit ang ating regional healthcare utilization rate ay nasa safe zone. Mahalaga yon dahil ang ating regional HCUR ang nagsisilbing buffer (But our regional healthcare utilization rate is in the safe zone. That is important because our regional HCUR serves as a buffer),” noted De Guzman.
Previously, the DOH said that among drivers in the rise of cases include complacency in complying with the health protocols and the presence of coronavirus variants.
The DOH also reported that 4,310 COVID-19 positive samples underwent whole genome sequencing so far. De Guzman said that “8.7 percent” of these samples were verified to have either the B.1.1.7 or the variant first found in the United Kingdom, and the B.1.351 variant which was first detected in South Africa.
De Guzman said that cases of B.1.1.7 variant in the country were found in Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, NCR, Calabarzon, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.
Cases of the B.1.351 variant were detected in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, NCR, Calabarzon, and Northern Mindanao.
As of March 20, the total number of B.1.1.7 variant cases in the country stood at 223, while the number of B.1.351 variant cases was at 152.
“Isa iyan sa binabantayan natin. Iyong lahat ng B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 na mga cases. Tinitingnan natin sila ba ay nagiging severe, sila ba ay nagiging death. Sa ngayon, hindi natin nakikita na may ebidensya na nagca-cause ng severe disease or deaths (That is one of the things that we are closely monitoring: all the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 cases. We look at the patients whether they developed severe symptoms or whether they died. So far, we do not see any evidence (of these two variants) causing severe disease or deaths),” said De Guzman.
De Guzman said that so far, these two variants are associated with increased transmissibility.