MANILA, Philippines — Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Saturday said “quarantine fatigue” could be a factor behind the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, Vergeire said the public may have already become complacent as restrictions had been gradually eased in several localities.
One year
March 15 marks a full year since President Duterte put the entire Luzon island on lockdown and later extended the community quarantine coverage to other parts of the country.
“We have been seeing an increase in cases, and it could be due to some lapses in our minimum public health protocols. There is also a probability that we become complacent, likely due to quarantine fatigue,” Vergeire said.
“This is why we are reminding the public to remember to strictly adhere to these protocols,” she added.
Virus case update
The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 2,921 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday — the highest number of new cases in a day since the 3,139 cases reported on Oct. 16, 2020.
The new cases brought the national tally to 574,247.
Saturday was also the third straight day that the number of new cases exceeded 2,000.
In its daily bulletin, the DOH said the number of active cases stood at 37,093—of which the majority, or 88.4 percent are mild, 6.4 percent are asymptomatic, 2.3 percent are critical, 2.1 percent are severe and 0.74 percent are moderate.
The DOH said another 293 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 524,865.
However, another 42 patients have died, which raised the death toll to 12,289.
Six laboratories failed to submit their data on time, the department said.