The National Capital Region (NCR) has yet to return to its pre-surge level despite the continuous decline in its daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the daily COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila is still over 600.

“In NCR, when we look at our case trend, hindi pa din tayo nakakabalik doon sa tinatawag natin na pre-surge level. Ang ating average number of cases ngayon sa NCR is at 666 cases per day (In NCR, when we look at our case trend, we have yet to return to what we call the pre-surge level. Our average number of cases today in NCR is at 666 cases per day),” she said during an online forum on Tuesday, June 29.

“This is very far doon sa ating case trend noong bago tayo mag surge. Nandoon lang tayo sa about 300 plus cases per day noong bago mag surge. That was January to February this year (This is very far from our case trend before the surge. We were only at about 300 plus cases per day before the surge. That was January to February this year),” she added.

Vergeire reminded the public that the situation in Metro Manila is still “very fragile.”

“Hindi ito ang oras para maging complacent tayo...Kailangan natin maintindihan napaka porous po ng ating borders, yung interzonal natin. And we know that cases are rising or increasing in other parts of the country (This is not the time for us to be complacent ... We need to understand that our borders are very porous, our interzonal ones. And we know that cases are rising or increasing in other parts of the country),” she said.

“Patuloy tayong maging vigilant at ipatupad ang mga protocols na kailangan para maprotektahan natin ang sarili natin (We must continue to be vigilant and follow the necessary protocols to protect ourselves),” she added.

Vaccination effect

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccination is one of the reasons for the decreasing number of cases in Metro Manila, said Vergeire.

“We have seen how we have continuously ramped up vaccination here. We are already seeing how effective vaccinations are. We are seeing how we are already able to manage to lower the cases,” she added.

“We have also seen that the prioritization framework is working. We are seeing the fruits of this kind of focusing and this kind of prioritization for these high burden areas,” she added.

The DOH has agreed to still place Metro Manila under the general community quarantine (GCQ) with “some restrictions,” said Vergeire.

“We still should be on guard dahil alam natin any time pwede na namang tumaas ang mga kaso (We still should be on guard because we know cases can increase again any time),” she said.

“Kailangan natin ng pagkakaisa para maipag-patuloy natin ang pagbaba ng kaso dito sa NCR and even in the other areas of the country (We should unite so that cases in NCR continue to drop and even in other areas of the country),” she added.