COVID-19 positivity rate in PH going down
Published Jun 29, 2020 12:00 am
By Jeffrey Damicog and Chito Chavez
The percentage of people who turned out positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) out of the total number of tests continues to decrease.
This was separately disclosed by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) head Vivencio “Vince” Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the government’s COVID-19 response, on Monday.
Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Vivencio Dizon
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN) While the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, Año said the country is right on track in curbing the dreaded disease. Año, in an interview over ANC, said the national government expected the rise of COVID-19 positive cases with its improved and increased COVID-19 testing capability. “Yes, as we increased our testing capacities, actually we expected that more positive will turn out. But if we look at the positivity rate, we are about five to six percent. Our target is to go to around three percent and probably one percent,” Año said. “What is important to look at is not the actual number of cases that are going up but the percentage of cases who turned out positive out of your total tests,” Dizon said in an interview over CNN Philippines. “And that percentage has constantly been going down from a high of almost 20 percent in March, to now, I think, it’s down to over six percent now because of the increase in tests.” he said. As the country aims to conduct more tests, Dizon pointed out “we are going to find more cases.” “That is not a bad thing, that is a good thing,” he assured. “I think the important thing to understand as we test more is that we are able to isolate and treat the people who are positive,” he said. Dizon emphasized that the low number of tests that the country can do was one of the problems it faced some months ago. “But now, we are ramping that up,” he said. Dizon admitted that the government is concerned over the rise in COVID-19 cases in Cebu City. “It is very alarming in Cebu. That is very, very clear,” he said. “That’s why the government is exerting all efforts to assist in this fight,” he added. Dizon disclosed that the “plan for Cebu now is to really act swiftly in terms of helping the health care system to cope with the rising number of cases.” “Apart from Cebu, our capacity in NCR (National Capital Region), in Region 3, in Region 4, in Mindanao is actually very, very good. Our hospitals are only occupied by only 30 plus percent which is very good in terms of our ability to manage the cases,” he cited. “Our deaths continue to decline again, except for Cebu which are increasing right now,” he added. Meanwhile, Año said it is unfair to compare the country with Singapore “because Singapore is a very small country, a small population.” Año said that Singapore has 41 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population compared to the country’s seven point something from the same number of people. “So we are still doing okay even way below global average,” he added. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque rejected the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the Philippines had the fastest rise in COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific region, more than three times that of Singapore which is already in the second wave of infection. Roque made the statement after data from the WHO showed that the Philippines had 8,143 new cases since June 16, the highest among 22 countries in the region. Singapore came in second with only 2,351 new cases while China, the origin of the disease, logged 302. In his Monday presser, Roque took exception to the report of WHO, saying the rise in the number of cases should be in relation to a country’s population. “Is this true? We beg to disagree,” he said. Like Año, Roque questioned why the Philippines was compared to Singapore. “Why would they compare us to Singapore that only has 5 million people? It’s just one city and it’s not even as big as Quezon City or Manila,” he added. Roque said the following should be the ranking in the Western Pacific region when the number of cases is divided per million population: 1. India: 549,197 2. Pakistan: 202, 955 3. Bangladesh: 137, 787 4. Indonesia: 54,010 5. Singapore: 43,459 6. Philippines: 35,455 7. South Korea: 12,715 8. Malaysia: 8,634 9. Thailand: 3,162 10. Vietnam: 335 Año also pointed out that most areas in the country are already placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). “If you look at the figures, most of these new positive cases are coming from particular regions, Region VII, National Capital Region, and now Region VIII. For the rest of the country, we are doing good. In fact, most are in MGCQ, some are in MGCQ with low risk, meaning to say they are near to new normal,” Año said. If the government did not enforce quarantine protocols, Año said that the Philippines will most likely record more or less three million infections with 100,000 deaths. Año said that with this, the Philippines is doing better compared to other nations. “We are doing good compared to other countries like the United States, Brazil,” Año said. (With a report from Argyll B. Geducos)
Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Vivencio Dizon(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN) While the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, Año said the country is right on track in curbing the dreaded disease. Año, in an interview over ANC, said the national government expected the rise of COVID-19 positive cases with its improved and increased COVID-19 testing capability. “Yes, as we increased our testing capacities, actually we expected that more positive will turn out. But if we look at the positivity rate, we are about five to six percent. Our target is to go to around three percent and probably one percent,” Año said. “What is important to look at is not the actual number of cases that are going up but the percentage of cases who turned out positive out of your total tests,” Dizon said in an interview over CNN Philippines. “And that percentage has constantly been going down from a high of almost 20 percent in March, to now, I think, it’s down to over six percent now because of the increase in tests.” he said. As the country aims to conduct more tests, Dizon pointed out “we are going to find more cases.” “That is not a bad thing, that is a good thing,” he assured. “I think the important thing to understand as we test more is that we are able to isolate and treat the people who are positive,” he said. Dizon emphasized that the low number of tests that the country can do was one of the problems it faced some months ago. “But now, we are ramping that up,” he said. Dizon admitted that the government is concerned over the rise in COVID-19 cases in Cebu City. “It is very alarming in Cebu. That is very, very clear,” he said. “That’s why the government is exerting all efforts to assist in this fight,” he added. Dizon disclosed that the “plan for Cebu now is to really act swiftly in terms of helping the health care system to cope with the rising number of cases.” “Apart from Cebu, our capacity in NCR (National Capital Region), in Region 3, in Region 4, in Mindanao is actually very, very good. Our hospitals are only occupied by only 30 plus percent which is very good in terms of our ability to manage the cases,” he cited. “Our deaths continue to decline again, except for Cebu which are increasing right now,” he added. Meanwhile, Año said it is unfair to compare the country with Singapore “because Singapore is a very small country, a small population.” Año said that Singapore has 41 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population compared to the country’s seven point something from the same number of people. “So we are still doing okay even way below global average,” he added. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque rejected the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the Philippines had the fastest rise in COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific region, more than three times that of Singapore which is already in the second wave of infection. Roque made the statement after data from the WHO showed that the Philippines had 8,143 new cases since June 16, the highest among 22 countries in the region. Singapore came in second with only 2,351 new cases while China, the origin of the disease, logged 302. In his Monday presser, Roque took exception to the report of WHO, saying the rise in the number of cases should be in relation to a country’s population. “Is this true? We beg to disagree,” he said. Like Año, Roque questioned why the Philippines was compared to Singapore. “Why would they compare us to Singapore that only has 5 million people? It’s just one city and it’s not even as big as Quezon City or Manila,” he added. Roque said the following should be the ranking in the Western Pacific region when the number of cases is divided per million population: 1. India: 549,197 2. Pakistan: 202, 955 3. Bangladesh: 137, 787 4. Indonesia: 54,010 5. Singapore: 43,459 6. Philippines: 35,455 7. South Korea: 12,715 8. Malaysia: 8,634 9. Thailand: 3,162 10. Vietnam: 335 Año also pointed out that most areas in the country are already placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). “If you look at the figures, most of these new positive cases are coming from particular regions, Region VII, National Capital Region, and now Region VIII. For the rest of the country, we are doing good. In fact, most are in MGCQ, some are in MGCQ with low risk, meaning to say they are near to new normal,” Año said. If the government did not enforce quarantine protocols, Año said that the Philippines will most likely record more or less three million infections with 100,000 deaths. Año said that with this, the Philippines is doing better compared to other nations. “We are doing good compared to other countries like the United States, Brazil,” Año said. (With a report from Argyll B. Geducos)