The recent uptick in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the country is expected but is not a cause for concern, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, March 21.
The rise in cases is expected since the Covid-19 virus is “expected to stay,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing.
What is important is that the number of severe and critical cases remain in low numbers, said Vergeire.
“Base sa ating pagmomonitor, oo tumataas ang mga kaso (Based on our monitoring, yes, cases are rising) but our hospitals are all manageable. Severe and critical [cases] at namamatay (and deaths) are kept at a minimum,” said Vergeire.
“Sa aking pananaw and payo ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, hindi tayo dapat matakot at mag-alala (In my point of view and the advice of the Department of Health, we should not be afraid and alarmed),” she added.
Vergeire once again emphasized the importance of practicing the minimum public health standards and vaccination.
“We should know how to protect ourselves and our family—and that would be having our vaccination against Covid at syempre alam natin kung kailan dapat magsuot ng masks (and of course, we should know when to wear masks),” she said.
Based on the weekly case bulletin released on Monday, March 20, a total of 1,171 new cases were recorded on March 13 to 19. The average number of new cases was at 167, which was 19 percent higher than what was recorded the previous week, the DOH said.
Tuesday case bulletin
The DOH on Tuesday recorded 190 new cases of Covid-19 nationwide, bringing the total tally of active infections to 9,244.
Most of the new cases in the last two weeks were recorded in the National Capital Region with 577, followed by the Davao Region with 300; Calabarzon with 235; Soccsksargen with 170; and Northern Mindanao with 165.
Since 2020, the Philippines already logged 4,079,237 confirmed cases, including 4,003,705 recoveries and 66,288 deaths.
As of March 16, more than 78.4 million Filipinos have been fully-vaccinated. More than 23.8 million individuals have received their first booster shot and almost 4.4 million have received their second booster shot, the DOH said.