MANILA, Philippines — The spread of the coronavirus disease in the City of Manila has reached a “plateau,” Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said on Friday.
Data from the Department of Health tracker showed that as of June 25, the number of COVID-19 cases in the capital city has reached 2,073, with 39 additional cases. Of this figure, 728 led to recoveries and 121 led to deaths.
According to Moreno, Manila was able to “maintain the numbers” in its COVID-19 data reporting.
“For the past three weeks, starting GCQ (general community quarantine), nag-plateau po ang COVID-19 presence sa Manila. Hindi siya lumalaki, hindi siya bumababa,” the mayor said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
(For the past three weeks, starting the GCQ, the presence of COVID-19 has reached a plateau. It’s neither increasing nor decreasing.)
GCQ started in Metro Manila on June 1.
Despite this development, Moreno urged Manila residents to not be at ease and to still follow health protocols to curtail the spread of the disease.
He also thanked his constituents for observing safety protocols that helped in achieving the plateau in COVID-19 cases in the city.
“I believe by this time, naintindihan na ng tao ‘yung gravity ng situation at ‘yung danger because hindi naman mapagkakaila na habang maraming gumagaling sa amin, meron pa rin namamatay,” he said.
(I believe that by this time, the people already understand the gravity and danger of the situation. We cannot deny that even though there are a lot of patients who recover in the city, there are still some who die.)
“And meron pa ring exposure although mababa at sustained at stable,” he also said, adding that the city government will continue to intensify contact tracing and targeted testing.
Manila now has its own testing laboratory for COVID-19 after receiving its license to operate from the Department of Health on Thursday. The laboratory, located at the Sta. Ana Hospital, has the capacity to conduct 200 swab tests a day.