PH not much affected by post-holiday surge of Covid-19 cases, says DOH

Catholic devotees attend a Christmas eve mass maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, outside the Quiapo church in Manila on December 24, 2020. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Holiday festivities did not significantly affect the number of Covid-19 cases in the country based on data on coronavirus infections in January, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

According to Health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the average number of daily new cases during certain weeks in January was only at 1,800, compared to the 1,300 in December.

The government was bracing for a post-holiday surge of Covid-19 cases as people participated in celebrations for Christmas and New Year. Vergeire said a post-holiday surge is expected to reflect on the country’s Covid-19 numbers by the second or third week of January.

“Ngayong until the end of January bumaba pa nga ‘yung 1,800 natin na average to just 1,700 until this current period. So nakikita natin na hindi tayo masyadong naapektuhan,” she said in an online press briefing.

(Until the end of January, the 1,800 average even decreased to 1,700 until this current period. So we see that we were not affected that much.)

Vergeire attributed this to the participation of the public in adhering to health protocols against Covid-19 as well as efforts of the government and the private sector in curbing the spread of the new coronavirus.

“But this is not a reason for us to be complacent. Nothing is still certain hanggang sa ngayon (up to now),” she added.

The country has so far logged a total of 537,310 Covid-19 infections, including additional 1,790 cases reported Sunday. Of the total, 26,333 are active cases, 499,798 are recoveries, and 11,179 are deaths.

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