The number of Covid-19 cases in the country is "plateauing," the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday, April 8.
From March 31 to April 6, the DOH recorded a total of 2,499 new Covid-19 cases bringing the total confirmed infections to 3,680,244, said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The average daily number of cases in the Philippines was at 357, she added.
“When we say it’s plateauing, it means tumigil, nag-plateau siya, so dati bumababa tapos bigla siyang nag-plateau, tumigil yung pagbaba o nag-susustain siya at that level. Ganoon din kung tumataas tapos nag-plateau siya, nag-sustain siya at that level (When we say it's plateauing, it means that the decline or increase in the number of infections stopped and is sustained at that level),” Vergeire explained during a press briefing on Friday, April 8.
She noted that the trend of cases may plateau if “you have reached that minimal or minimum number of cases” based on the current situation.
“But it is not bad kasi mababa naman yung mga kaso dito sa ating areas in the country (because the number of cases in the areas of the country is low),” said Vergeire.
This was also seconded by infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana.
“Ang tawag namin doon steady state na— yung (We call it a steady state — the) interventions are keeping the number of cases at a constant rate. How do we improve that? We improve that by improving boosting, by improving adherence . How will that get worse? if people start to relax, don't get boosted...mag wane ang immunity at hindi gumamit ng mask (if there’s waning immunity and people don't use a mask),” he said.
“Very important na hindi tayo mag panic pag nakita nating nagpla-plateau (It is very important that we do not panic when we observe signs of plateauing) but understanding what's going on in the community na kung low yung cases, ibig sabihin nasa saturation point na tayo (that if the cases are low, it means we are at a saturation point already) and if we want to push further, we have to change something. But if something changes for the worse, tataas uli yan (it will increase again),” he added.
To further bring down the number of cases, Vergeire urged the public to continue to follow the health protocols and complete their vaccination.
“As we continue to see a plateau in new Covid-19 cases, we highly encourage the public to complete their primary vaccine series and get booster doses to better protect the whole community,” she said.