Duque on COVID-19: I hope we won’t suffer fate like Europe’s

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday said people should not let their guard down just because the number of new coronavirus infections had started to decline.

Duque said that while the Department of Health (DOH) has started to observe a downward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases, the threat of the virus surging again remains as seen in Europe, which is grappling to contain a second outbreak.

“This downward trend is certainly a welcome development. But cases may again rise if we are not careful. We hope that we won’t suffer the same fate [as Europe],” Duque said.

New infections

On Tuesday, the DOH reported 1,347 additional infections, raising the country’s overall number of COVID-19 cases to 399,749.

Cavite recorded the most number of new infections, 92, followed by Manila (77), Quezon City (58), Baguio City (55) and Laguna (52).

In the first 10 days of the month, new cases increased by only 19,143, compared with the same period in October when it rose by 25,707.

Duque attributed the slowdown in new cases to the government’s continued efforts, the barangays’ local responses, as well as the public’s compliance with the minimum health standards, such as wearing masks, hand-washing and physical distancing.

“Let us not waste this triumph. Let us not be complacent. Let us not [let] our guard down,” he said.

The DOH said 187 more patients had recovered, raising the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 361,919. The death toll, however, increased to 7,661 as 14 more patients succumbed to the severe respiratory disease.

The recoveries and deaths left the country with 30,169 active cases, of which 83 percent were mild, 9.4 percent asymptomatic, 2.7 percent severe, and 4.8 percent critical.