COVID-19 situation in Philippines 'seems contained,' says Duque

The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines already seems "contained" although is "capable of springing surprises," outgoing Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

"So far, given our measures, our interventions, mukhang contained na siya [it seems contained]. And the data will support that claim," Duque said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay, when asked about President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that his administration was able to contain the virus in a short period of time.

Still, Duque warned that it is still not yet the time to be complacent.

"At the same time, we are realistic to accept the fact that this virus is notorious for mutations," he said. "It is capable of springing surprises at every turn."

"And so we have to be realistic, we have to temper our expectations. What is more important is the realization that the virus is here to stay," he added.

NCR cases up

In the National Capital Region (NCR), daily average COVID-19 cases have increased by 14% as of Wednesday, according to independent monitoring group OCTA Research.

Based on the seven-day average, daily cases in the capital region are now at 90 compared to last week’s 79, said OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David during the Laging Handa public briefing.

David said three weeks ago, only 63 additional coronavirus infections were recorded per day.

While there was an uptick, he clarified this is not a case of concern as Metro Manila remains at “low risk” for COVID-19 infections.

“Unti-unting tumataas 'yung cases. From 63 ngayon nasa 90 cases per day. Hindi pa naman mataas pero may slight concern na bahagyang tumataas kada linggo ang bilang ng kaso sa Metro Manila,” David said.

Trends

Meanwhile, Duque expressed hope that the incoming administration will carefully study COVID-19 trends if they have any plans of lifting the state of calamity in the country.

The current state of calamity is set to expire in September.

"I hope that the new president will assess the situation if there is any plan to lift it," he said.

"I hope they will really take time to study and to look at the metrics and look at what new information and science offer in terms of the evolving variants of concern."

The DOH on Tuesday said the Philippines remains at low risk for COVID-19 despite the slight increase in the number of cases in the past two weeks.

As of June 7, the DOH has logged 3,691,892 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, of which 2,437 remain active. The death toll is at 60,456. —KBK, GMA News