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PH's daily Covid-19 cases projected to hit over 600 by May 15—DOH
Philippines
National
PH's daily Covid-19 cases projected to hit over 600 by May 15—DOH
PH's daily Covid-19 cases projected to hit over 600 by May 15—DOH
Published Apr 12, 2023 10:19 am
The Philippines could see over 600 Covid-19 cases per day by the middle of May, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, April 12.
This latest projection is based on Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases (FASSSTER), said DOH Officer-in-Charge and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“As of April 11 projections, pinapakita (it is shown) that we can have 289 cases up to 611 cases—daily cases—by May 15, based on these projections,” said Vergeire during a press briefing.
“Doon naman sa (In the) National Capital Region, we can have at the very least 30 cases to just about 122 by May 15,” she added.
The country’s current average number of daily cases is at 278, based on the recent DOH’s weekly case bulletin.
Vergeire reminded the public that these projections are “not cast in stone” and can still change.
The DOH has observed a slight increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in some areas of the country, said Vergeire.
“Mindanao and NCR (National Capital Region) show slight case increases with case increase in Mindanao slowing down in recent days,” she said.
“Remaining areas exhibit plateauing case trends,” she added.
However, Vergeire noted that the “low number of deaths and admissions were observed despite increase in cases nationally and in NCR and Mindanao.”
The Health official also noted that there is a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases among unvaccinated individuals. “The total number of unvaccinated cases increased last March 2023 by 13 percent compared to February 2023. Moreover, proportion of severe and critical cases among unvaccinated admissions have been increasing,” she said. “As we see an increase in cases among unvaccinated individuals, we continue to remind our people to get our jabs done and boosters done to remain protected against the virus,” she added.
Emergency phase
Meanwhile, Vergeire said the Philippines needs to be prepared before the government decides to lift the state of public health emergency due to Covid-19, which was declared last March 8, 2020 by former President Rodrigo Duterte. Vergeire made the statement after the US government lifted its Covid-19 national emergency. She noted that the “context” of each country is different, saying that “the US may have lifted or lifted their state of public health emergency based on their reasons because they are opening up their economy, because they see that Covid-19 is already manageable, so on and so forth.” “No matter what the context would be, dito sa Pilipinas kasi (here in the Philippines), our situation right now would be that we are trying to monitor our cases and we are trying to better prepare our healthcare system. Nakikita naman natin (We are seeing) that soon we would be able to lift this state of public health emergency. Pero kailangan lahat nakaayos na before we do that (But everything must be organized before we do that),” she added. We are in constant coordination, of course, with the interagency task force, iba't-ibang ahensya, plus syempre kailangan makita natin na yung mga (different agencies, plus of course we also need to check the) legal provisions that are included into this state of public health emergency---meron din tayong fall back kung ano ang gagawin natin once na lift iyan (we should have a fall back on what we must do once that is lifted),” she added. Vergeire said that they are currently following the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Ang WHO nagbigay ng guidance na sabi nila siguro hindi pa appropriate ang time ngayon para mag lift ng state of public health emergency of international concern or this pandemic nga. And they see naman moving forward, baka (The WHO gave guidance saying that maybe now is not the appropriate time to lift a state of public health emergency of international concern or this pandemic. But they see moving forward, maybe) within the year, they said,” she said. “Pero nagsabi din ang WHO na kailangan makita muna natin yung pinagmulan ng impeksyon bago natin masabi na tapos na ang lahat (But the WHO also said that we need first to determine the source of the infection before we can say that everything is over) so that we can adequately prepare,” she added.
Unvaccinated
The Health official also noted that there is a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases among unvaccinated individuals. “The total number of unvaccinated cases increased last March 2023 by 13 percent compared to February 2023. Moreover, proportion of severe and critical cases among unvaccinated admissions have been increasing,” she said. “As we see an increase in cases among unvaccinated individuals, we continue to remind our people to get our jabs done and boosters done to remain protected against the virus,” she added.
Emergency phase
Meanwhile, Vergeire said the Philippines needs to be prepared before the government decides to lift the state of public health emergency due to Covid-19, which was declared last March 8, 2020 by former President Rodrigo Duterte. Vergeire made the statement after the US government lifted its Covid-19 national emergency. She noted that the “context” of each country is different, saying that “the US may have lifted or lifted their state of public health emergency based on their reasons because they are opening up their economy, because they see that Covid-19 is already manageable, so on and so forth.” “No matter what the context would be, dito sa Pilipinas kasi (here in the Philippines), our situation right now would be that we are trying to monitor our cases and we are trying to better prepare our healthcare system. Nakikita naman natin (We are seeing) that soon we would be able to lift this state of public health emergency. Pero kailangan lahat nakaayos na before we do that (But everything must be organized before we do that),” she added. We are in constant coordination, of course, with the interagency task force, iba't-ibang ahensya, plus syempre kailangan makita natin na yung mga (different agencies, plus of course we also need to check the) legal provisions that are included into this state of public health emergency---meron din tayong fall back kung ano ang gagawin natin once na lift iyan (we should have a fall back on what we must do once that is lifted),” she added. Vergeire said that they are currently following the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Ang WHO nagbigay ng guidance na sabi nila siguro hindi pa appropriate ang time ngayon para mag lift ng state of public health emergency of international concern or this pandemic nga. And they see naman moving forward, baka (The WHO gave guidance saying that maybe now is not the appropriate time to lift a state of public health emergency of international concern or this pandemic. But they see moving forward, maybe) within the year, they said,” she said. “Pero nagsabi din ang WHO na kailangan makita muna natin yung pinagmulan ng impeksyon bago natin masabi na tapos na ang lahat (But the WHO also said that we need first to determine the source of the infection before we can say that everything is over) so that we can adequately prepare,” she added.