The Department of Health (DOH) said it observed that the decline in newly confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases nationwide has slowed down.

“May nakikita tayong pagbagal sa ating pagbaba. It is still going down but the decline is slower than the previous weeks,” said DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in a press briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

De Guzman said that looking at the national epidemic curve, the Philippines is just averaging 4,183 cases per day from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, which is 14 percent lower than the average cases that the DOH observed the previous week.

“Nitong mga naunang linggo ng Oktubre, malaki ang pagbaba. It went down by 26 percent and then 35 percent by the end of October (During the first few weeks of October, there was a big decrease. It went down by 26 percent and then 35 percent by the end of October),” she said.

“Well una, good news pa rin naman iyon. There is a decline pero pag bumabagal na, ayun ang higit nating binabantayan kasi yung pagbagal na iyon, posibleng makita natin from a negative to positive (growth rate) (Well first, that's still good news. There is a decline but when it slows down----that's what we are closely monitoring because we can possibly see from a negative to positive ),” she said.

De Guzman urged the different local government units (LGUs) to continuously implement their active case finding initiatives.

“When cases go down, this is the opportunity for us to intensify the active case finding because we want to be able to prove na pag mababa ang kaso, talagang mababa ang kaso; wala tayong nami-miss out na mga cases (we want to be able to prove that the cases are really low and we are not missing out on cases),” she said.

“Habang bumababa ang kaso, minsan meron tayong mga areas na medyo nag-e-ease up on their active case finding. Kailangan tuloy tuloy ang active case finding natin para when we see this decline slows down, we can tell na 'oh, this is okay. The cases are still going down although a little bit slower..but I can say that's a true decline kasi yung ating paghahanap ng kaso ay tuloy tuloy (As the number of cases decreases, some areas tend to eased up on their active case finding. We need to continue our active case finding so that when we see this decline slows down, we can tell that 'oh, this is okay. The cases are still going down although a little bit slower..but I can say that's a true decline because we are continuously doing our case finding’),’” she added.

The DOH also urged the public to continue following the health protocols as there is a possibility that the number of active COVID-19 cases nationwide can shoot up to 52,000 by mid-December.

De Guzman said by Dec. 15, the country’s number of active cases “can range from as low as 2,139 active cases if our mobility is maintained and we continue to be adherent to minimum public health standards.”

“Even with current or improved vaccination and with good detection to isolation, it can be (as) low as this,” she said.

“However, if our mobility ay sasabayan ng pagbaba ng adherence to minimum public health standards at babagal ang paghahanap and isolate, from 2,139 posibleng umakyat ang kaso natin to 49,000 to 50,000 as of Dec. 15--and that’s for the Philippines (However, if our mobility is accompanied by a decrease in adherence to minimum public health standards and the detection and isolation of cases slow down--- from 2,139 cases--these will likely to increase to 49,000 to 50,000 as of Dec. 15---and that’s for the Philippines),” she said.

As of Nov. 1, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines stood at 43,185. Since the start of the pandemic, the DOH has already confirmed 2,790,375.