The Department of Health (DOH) said that the slight increase in new Covid-19 cases in the country is not “sustained” and a surge in infections is unlikely to occur at this point.
“Nakakita po tayo ng bahagyang pagtaas ng mga kaso. Gayunpaman, hindi pa ito observed to be sustained. Ibig sabihin ng pag sustained, nagtutuloy-tuloy ang pagtaas (We have seen a slight increase in cases. However, it has not been observed to be sustained. Sustained means the increase is continuous),” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday, June 10.
The country’s average number of cases daily is at 197, said Vergeire.
“At present, the national positivity rate has increased to 1.3 percent. Nationally, tayo po ay nanatili sa low-risk case classification at may positive na one-week and two-week growth rate simula nung May 25 (we are still under low-risk case classification and have a positive one-week and two-week growth rate since May 25),” said Vergeire.
“Sa kabila ng mga bahagyang pagtaas ng kaso, ang ating average daily attack rate ay nanatili sa less than one case per 100,000 population (Despite the slight increase in cases, our average daily attack rate has remained at less than one case per 100,000 population),” she added.
Meanwhile, Vergeire said that the country’s hospital bed utilization remains at low-risk classification.
At present, Vergeire noted that a surge in cases is unlikely to happen.
“Yes, we have said and we have flagged na may pagtaas ng mga numero ng kaso sa iba’t ibang lugar sa ating bansa (that there is an increase in the number of cases in various parts of our country), including NCR. And yes, we are concerned na maaari itong magkaroon ng tuloy-tuloy na pagtaas kung hindi tayo patuloy na mag-iingat (that the increase might continue if we will not be careful),” said Vergeire.
“Pero yung para masabi natin na tumaas siya ngayon at magkaka-surge na tayo or tataas na in the coming days, ay sa tingin ko po ay mukhang hindi naman mangyayari (But for us to say that it is increasing and we will have a surge in the coming days, I don't think it will happen),” she added.
However, Vergeire said such a scenario remains a possibility just like what happened in other countries, given the presence of the coronavirus subvariants. To prevent this from happening, she reminded the public to strictly follow the minimum public health standards and complete the Covid-19 vaccination.