MANILA, Philippines -- Amid cramped hospitals and long waiting-time for dengue patients at health express lanes, the incidence of dengue hemorrhagic fever cases appears to have slackened during the last three weeks, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Tuesday.

Ona disclosed at a news briefing that the Department of Health has observed a gradual downtrend of dengue cases, which peaked in the first week of August, in several regions. But the number of dengue cases in Metro Manila was still slowly mounting, he added.

"The situation appears to be slowly receding according to our expectation... [and] the trend is very similar to what it was in the past [years]," Ona told reporters.

Citing the latest weekly monitoring, Ona admitted that the number of dengue cases across the country from January to August was already 99 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

From Aug. 22 to 28, the health agency monitored 7,091 new dengue cases, bringing the number of cases to 69,594 since January. But the increase was slightly lower than that monitored from Aug. 15 to 21, which was 7,844.

The total number of dengue-related deaths was 501, but fatality rate was still lower at .73 percent compared to the 1.1 percent in the same period last year.

Ona said that dengue cases this year were already gradually "leveling off" and were expected to go down further this month. When asked what caused the downturn, the Health secretary said, "It's the natural course of the disease."

"August was the peak... but we are still on our toes with regards to monitoring the continued effort of our local governments and health workers in preventing this disease," said Ona.

In Western Visayas, the number of dengue incidents went down from its highest, 1,670 incidents during the first seven days of August to 931 cases from Aug. 15 to 21. The health agency recorded 34 dengue cases from Aug. 22 to 28 in the region.

The DOH also monitored the same pattern in Soccsksargen: dengue cases dwindled from 319 incidents from Aug. 1 to 7 to 71 cases on its 33rd week (Aug. 15 to 21); and one case on the 34th week.

Dengue cases in Calabarzon also waned from a peak of 786 cases in the 31st week (Aug. 1 to 7) to 648 cases in the 33rd week; and at least 146 incidents from Aug. 22 to 28.

In earlier monitoring reports by the health department, most of the dengue cases were Western Visayas, Soccsksargen and Calabarzon.

A similar trend was also monitored in 11 other regions but dengue incidents gradually increased in Metro Manila by 16 percent, particularly in the cities of Marikina and Mandaluyong, said Ona.

Cases in the capital climbed from 450 cases in the 30th week (July 25 to 31) to 730 incidents in the 33rd week (Aug. 15 to 21).

Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, said the upward trend in Metro Manila was expected because the capital was densely populated. Health officials said the Aedes aegypti mosquito thrives in populated urban areas.

Ona also ordered on Tuesday the suspension of all out-of-town seminars and training among government doctors and local health workers to give more attention to patients suffering from the deadly dengue virus.

Ona said he decided to postpone in the training session for local health providers as hospitals grappled with thousands of dengue patients seeking medical help.

"I've directed all our DOH staff together with local health workers to temporarily suspend all out-of-town trainings to make sure that they fully attend to their work in helping our local governments [provide the needs of dengue patients]," he said.