The number of new Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila is now in a slow decline, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
“Patuloy din na bumababa ang kaso ng new cases sa NCR although hindi ganoon kabilis (The number of new cases in the NCR continues to decrease, although it is not that fast),” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire during a press briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Metro Manila is still classified under the moderate risk case classification, said Vergeire.
The DOH has also observed that the number of fresh coronavirus cases nationally is also decreasing.
“Cases are now a downward trend,” the state health agency said in its report. The DOH said it can be attributed to the “people’s discipline” in following the minimum public health standards and people getting vaccinated.
However, the country may still see 6,000 to 9,000 daily Covid-19 cases by next month if adherence to health protocols and the level of vaccination will not be maintained, said Vergeire.
“Hopefully, hindi natin maabot itong 9,000 na ito. Hopefully, patuloy pa rin na bumaba ang mga kaso (we will not reach that 9,000 cases. Hopefully, the cases will continue to decrease),” she said.
“Whenever we give projections, it is not cast in stone, it does not mean that it's going to happen, it just guides the Department of Health and other agencies on how we will prepare,” she added.
On Wednesday, the DOH recorded 1,558 new Covid-19 cases nationwide. The tally of active infections stood at 24,181.
Most of the cases in the recent 14 days were recorded in Metro Manila at 10,781, followed by Calabarzon with 5,188, Central Luzon with 3,430, Western Visayas with 1,828, and Davao region with 1,465.
Since the Covid-19 virus hit the Philippines two years ago, the DOH already recorded 3,880,229 cases, including 3,794,234 recoveries, and 61,814 deaths.
Variants
Meanwhile, the DOH reported another 929 cases of Omicron subvariants.
There were 889 new cases of the BA.5 subvariant. The DOH data showed that all regions in the country detected cases of this subvariant.
Furthermore, the DOH also recorded 16 new cases of BA.4 subvariant, four cases of BA.2.12.1, and two cases of BA.2.75.