The Department of Health (DOH) urged the public to remain vigilant amid an uptick in new Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila.
While the Covid-19 situation in Metro Manila is not yet alarming, this does not warrant the public to put their guards down, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during a press briefing on Friday, June 17.
“No, at this point,” said Duque when asked if the public should be worried about the uptick in cases in the capital region. “But it does not present itself as an excuse to be complacent,” he emphasized.
“We have to be still complying strictly with our masking mandate and the rest of the minimum public health standards,” he said.
“We don't want to squander our gains. So I call upon everyone, magkaisa tayo (let us unite),” he furthered.
Duque expressed hope that only a “minor surge” will happen in the event that such a scenario occurs.
“Hopefully, this is going to be a minor surge if ever there will be a surge—hopefully it is going to be very minor and short-lived and not enough to overwhelm the health system's capacity,” he said.
At present, Metro Manila remains under the low risk category for Covid-19.
“As I have said and underscored, ang baba ng ating average daily attack rate (our average daily attack rate remains low)—less than one per 100,000 population. And our HCUR natin ganun din, sa NCR only 25 percent. (And our HCUR is also the same. In NCR it is only at 25 percent),” said Duque.
“Bago ka mag moderate risk level sa NCR, dapat umabot ka ng 50 to 70 percent healthcare utilization rate (Before you reach the moderate risk level in NCR, you must reach 50 to 70 percent healthcare utilization rate). So, we are nowhere close to that,” he added.