COVID-19 cases in the Philippines now plateauing –DOH

The COVID-19 infections in the country are now plateauing, with the average daily cases recorded in the recent week 26% lower than the previous week, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.

“Sa kasalukuyan po, nagpa-plateau na ang ating mga kaso on a national level. Mula April 5 to April 11, nakapagtala tayo ng bagong 1,903 cases na tinatayang 271 cases per day,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

(Currently, our COVID-19 cases are plateauing on a national level. From April 5 to April 11, we recorded 1,903 new cases which was approximately 271 cases per day.)

A total of 3,594,516 people have been counted as recoveries, while the death toll climbed to 59,777.

Vergeire emphasized that the number of cases in the recent week was 26% lower than the recorded number on March 29 to April 4 which had 366 average daily cases.

The positivity rate in the country has also decreased to 1.6% from the 1.8% last week, she added.

Positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested.

Vergeire further said that the Philippines’ health systems capacity remains at a low risk, with a total intensive care unit (ICU) utilization rate of 18.4% and bed utilization rate of 16.6% as of April 10.

“Kung susuriin naman ang ating mga naa-admit sa ating mga ospital, mahigit sa kalahati ay mild to moderate cases, habang nasa 11.8% lamang ng total COVID-19 admissions ang mga severe at critical cases,” she added.

(If we examine the admissions in our hospitals, more than half are mild to moderate cases, while only 11.8% of the total COVID-19 admissions are severe and critical cases.)

The Philippines on Monday logged 273 new cases, bringing the nationwide tally to 3,681,646.

A total of 1,906 new COVID-19 cases were recorded from April 4 to April 10, 2022 which was 29% lower than the cases reported the previous week.

Despite the improved data, Vergeire reminded the public to continue observing minimum public health standards and get their primary vaccine series and booster shots as the plateauing of cases may still either lead to an increase or continued decrease of infections.

“Mababa na po ang nakikita nating bilang ng mga kaso. Katulad ng sabi ko, nagpa-plateau o bumabagal ang pagbaba ng ating mga kaso. Dalawa ang pwedeng mangyari: maaaring patuloy na bumaba o maaaring tumaas ang mga kaso,” she added.

(We are already seeing a low number of COVID-19 infections. As I said, our cases are plateauing or slowing down. Two things can happen: cases may continue to decline or cases may increase.)—AOL, GMA News