FILE PHOTO. A health worker shows test kits that yielded positive results for coronavirus. Image from Facebook / Vice President Leni Robredo
MANILA, Philippines — It is too early to say that COVID-19 cases are already declining, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
DOH Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire declined to verify the claims of OCTA Research fellow Guido David said that the spread of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila appeared to be slowing down, considering the decreased daily growth rate of coronavirus cases.
According to Vergeire, the DOH does not look at the daily difference in data because it could be subject to certain variables, including laboratory submissions. Instead, she said the DOH looks at the difference in data per week.
“Kapag tiningnan natin, talaga namang nakikita natin na medyo may pagbagal na dahil noong nag-umpisa po tayo ng sitwasyon sa Omicron, ang ating case doubling time was just at two days, ibig sabihin mabilis ang pagdami ng kaso. Ngayon nakita natin na bumagal, nasa apat na araw na bago magdoble ang kaso,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo when asked about OCTA Research’s observation.
(If we will look at the data, we will see that there is a slight decrease in transmission. When we started with our situation on Omicron, our case doubling time was just at two days, but now, it takes four days before cases double.)
“Ngunit kapag tiningnan natin, ang laki pa rin ng numero ng mga reported cases. Ibig sabihin kailangan pa rin nating mag-ingat, kailangan patuloy pa rin ang ating interventions at ‘yung ating mga ginagawa para mapigil ang pagtaas ng kaso para hindi further mag-increase ang cases. So it is still very early to say and conclude that cases are declining already,” she added.
(But the number of reported cases is still high. This means we still have to take care and continue the interventions we are doing to prevent the further increase in cases. So it is still very early to say and conclude that cases are declining already.)
On Monday, the country logged 37,070 COVID-19 cases, bringing total active cases to 290,938.
Metro Manila, meanwhile, has 137,658 active cases of the disease, including 13,543 additional infections.