Increase of COVID-19 cases also due to non-compliance with health protocols — DOH
MANILA, Philippines — The increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country is “not solely” because of the presence of the new variants. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the “underlying cause” of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases can also be attributed to the public’s failure to follow the minimum public health standards (MPHS).
“We would just like to inform the public na tumataas po ang kaso, totoo. Pero po hindi natin pwedeng sabihin na ‘yung variants ang naging cause solely, na siya lang talaga kaya tayo tumaas ay dumating ang variants. Hindi po, kaya po tumataas ang kaso dahil nakakaligtaan po nating ayusin at mag-comply dito sa minimum health standards na meron tayo,” she said in an online press briefing.
(We would like to inform the public that the number of COVID-19 cases is rising but we cannot solely blame it on the presence of the new variants. The cases are rising because we fail to comply with the minimum health standards.)
She said that the healthcare utilization is still “manageable” and can still manage to accommodate almost 50 percent of COVID-19 patients.
“Tinignan po natin ang healthcare utilization natin, we still are at manageable level na meron pa ho tayong almost 50 percent na pwede pang maka-accommodate ng ating pasyente.”
(We looked at our healthcare utilization and we are still at the manageable level. We still have almost 50 percent available [hospital beds] that the hospitals can accommodate.)
Around 2,400 COVID-19 cases were recorded nationwide in the previous week from 1,100 to 1,200 on December 28 to January 2.
National Capital Region (NCR) recorded about 1,000 cases per week from an average of 300 to 400 while Central Visayas logged about 400 cases from 27 cases before January 2021, Vergeire reported.
The country has so far recorded a total of 118 cases of the more transmissible UK variant and 58 cases of the South African variant that is said to be more contagious and has a potential impact on vaccine efficacy. Meanwhile, the DOH also reported 85 cases of mutations with “potential clinical significance.”
On Sunday, the DOH reported an additional 3,276 cases of COVID-19. This marked the third straight day that the health department reported over 3,000 cases.
The Philippines has so far confirmed a total of 594,412 cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of this number, 36,043 are active cases, 545,853 are recoveries, and 12,516 are deaths. Liezelle Soriano Roy, trainee
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