MANILA, Philippines — The number of new COVID-19 cases in the country continues to decline but minimum public health standards have to be followed still, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Tuesday.
DOH Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said that from April 12 to 18, a total of 1,571 new cases were recorded. This means that the average daily reported cases from April 12 to 18 stood at 224, which was 17 percent lower than the previous week.
Of the active cases, 18,672 are asymptomatic while 1,251 are severe and critical. The positivity rate, meanwhile, stands at 1.6 percent, said Vergeire.
“Patuloy na bumababa ang ating mga kaso sa lahat ng island groups sa ating bansa (The new cases in the country continues to decrease in all island groups in the country),” Vergeire said.
“Patuloy tayo sa pagiging bida sa ating pagsunod sa ating minimum public health standards (We have to continuously follow our minimum public health standards),” she added.
READ: DOH logs 1,674 COVID-19 infections April 11 to 17
According to Vergeire, more than 67 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday, April 18. Of this number, Vergeire said 1.5 million are children while 9.1 million are adolescents.
While 67 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, Vergeire said over 36 million Filipinos have not been boosted yet.
“Twelve point seven million na ang mga indibidwal na ating nabigyan nitong vaccinated plus o booster shots (12.7 million individuals have been given their booster shots),” Vergeire said.
“Patuloy natin itong patataasin kaya naman para sa humigit kumulang na 36 million na hindi pa boosted, get your jab done dahil kapag boosted, mas protected laban sa COVID-19,” she added.
(We will continue to increase this. That’s why we’re calling on the 36 million Filipinos who have not been boosted yet to get your jab done because if you are boosted, you have better protection against COVID-19.)
On March 29, Vergeire said 33 million Filipinos eligible for COVID-19 booster shots have yet to receive the additional vaccine dose.
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