DOH: Improved COVID-19 situation in some areas under new alert level but more study needed

MANILA, Philippines — There was an improvement in the COVID-19 case data and hospitalization rate data of some areas under the new alert level system; however, this should be observed for a longer period of time, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

Dr. Althea de Guzman of the DOH’s epidemiology bureau said the expanded pilot implementation of the new alert level system has only been a week and this should be given more time to be studied.

However, there are already reports of improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the areas, she added.

“Mayroong mga areas na nakakakita tayo ng improvement in their case data and hospital utilization data subalit nakakaisang linggo pa lang tayo so mas magandang balikan kung ano ‘yung naging epekto nitong policy shift na ito sa mga areas na in-expand natin makaraan ng isa o dalawang linggo,” she said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(There are areas where we saw an improvement in their case data and utilization data but it has only been a week so it’s better to reassess the effect of this policy shift in expanded areas after one or two weeks.)

Aside from monitoring the average daily COVID-19 attack rate, the two-week growth rate, and hospitalization rate, the government is also looking at the indicators for testing and isolation.

She was referring to the amount of time between detection and isolation of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

This will also be the basis of the implementation of the new alert level system will be expanded to other areas.

The new alert level system was piloted in Metro Manila on Sept. 16 but it was expanded to some areas starting Oct. 20.

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