The Philippines remained at “very low risk” classification for Covid-19 even if the number of fresh cases are no longer dropping over the past week, the independent research group OCTA said on Saturday, April 9.
“Nasa very low risk pa rin tayo. Yung positivity rate ay around 1.6 percent nationwide. Mababa din yung hospitalization natin. Yung ADAR natin below 1, yung reproduction natin medyo tumaas ng konti (We are still at very low risk classification. The positivity rate is around 1.6 percent nationwide. Our hospitalization rate is also low. Our ADAR is below 1, while our reproduction number has increased a bit,” OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said in a televised briefing on Saturday.
He added that the number of fresh cases recorded in the country on Friday, April 8, remains low with 290 cases.
“Kung titignan natin yung seven-day average natin ngayong linggo sa buong bansa ay 342 Covid-19 cases. Noong nakaraang linggo ay 342 din, so hindi na siya bumababa masyado. Pero posible namang bumababa yan pero mino-monitor natin (If we look at our seven-day average this week nationwide is 342 Covid-19 cases. Last week it was 342 too, so it’s not going down much. But it is possible that it is decreasing but we are monitoring it),” David pointed out.
He reminded the public to follow minimum public health standards and get booster shots to prevent a reversal of trend.
“Possible talaga na magkaroon ng pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso dahil ngayon nagsisimula na magkaroon tayo ng waning immunity. January tayo nagka-surge, ngayon nakatatlong buwan na, posibleng may mga kababayan tayo na yung antibody levels nila ay bumababa (It is actually possible to have an increasing number of cases because now we are starting to have waning immunity. In January we had a surge, now it’s been three months, it’s possible there are those whose antibody levels are already dropping),” David said.
The OCTA fellow, in a forum on April 7, said there is a possibility of increase in the number of cases in April or May—after the elections.
“Isang napansin natin na trend is yung mga Covid-19 wave natin mga three to four months apart. Medyo sinu-support nito yung hypothesis na humihina yung immunity after a period of time. Pero mula nung mag-mass vaccinations, medyo na-control na natin , especially hospitalization (One trend we noticed is our Covid-19 waves are about three to four months apart. This somewhat supports the hypothesis that immunity weakens after a period of time. But since the mass vaccinations, we have somewhat controlled the increase in cases, especially hospitalization),” David said.
“Kaya yan ang tinututukan natin (So that is what we are focusing on),” David said. “Possibility pa lang yan. Pwede pa nating maiwasan yan kung tayo’y nag-iingat at patuloy sa pagsunod sa health protocols (That’s just a possibility. We can still avoid that if we are careful and continue to follow health protocols).”