The Department of Health (DOH) said it is closely monitoring the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in Metro Manila as it continues to exhibit an increasing number of cases.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the National Capital Region (NCR) registered the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday, July 28, with 1,151 new infections.
"Ito ay talagang tumataas ang bilang ng mga kaso mula sa NCR dahil nung nakaraang linggo ay halos nasa humigit kumulang 650 kaso lamang ang naitatala. Ngayon po ay halos pa doble na tayo (The number of cases in NCR is really increasing because last week, we only recorded 650 cases. Now, it almost doubled)," said Duque during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday night.
"Kaya ito ay talagang binabantayan natin (That is why we are closely monitoring this)," he added.
Also included in the top regions that logged high number of new cases on Thursday were Calabarzon (Cavite,Laguna, Batangas,Rizal,Quezon) with 701 new cases, Western Visayas with 540 new infections, Ilocos region with 334 more cases, Central Luzon with additional 334 cases, and Central Visayas with 326 new cases.
The Health chief said that the number of COVID-19 cases nationally is currently rising.
"Nagsisimula na tayong makakita ng pagtaas ng kaso at healthcare utilization rate ngayong may local transmission na ng Delta variant (We are starting to see an increase in cases and healthcare utilization rates--- now that there is already a local transmission of the Delta variant)," said Duque.
Duque called on the local government units (LGUs) once again to intensify their efforts against COVID-19 to stop the increase in cases.
Get vaccinated
Duque also urged eligible Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially those with comorbidities and senior citizens.
"Nanawagan kami sa ating mga kababayan na kabilang sa mga population groups A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (people with comorbidities) na magpalista at magpabakuna sa lalong madaling panahon upang bigyan proteksyon ang inyong mga sarili laban sa Delta variant (We call on our citizens, belonging to priority groups A2 and A3, to register and get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect yourselves against the Delta variant)," said Duque.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo reiterated that all vaccines currently available in the Philippines are effective against the Delta variant of coronavirus.
“Lahat naman ng bakuna ay talagang useful pa rin against the Delta variant bagamat meron konting pagbaba sa efficacy, nag de-decrease ng 10 to 15 percent (All vaccines are still really useful against the Delta variant, although there is a slight decrease in efficacy by at least 10 to 15 percent),” said Domingo.
“But since ang baseline naman natin ay 70 to 95 percent ay matataas, so mataas pa rin ang laban natin sa Delta variant basta nabakunahan tayo nitong mga approved (But since our baseline is 70 to 95 percent, which is high, we still have a high protection against the Delta variant as long as we are vaccinated by these approved vaccines),” he added.