COVID-19 cases in PH exceed 10,000

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines breached the 10,000 mark as the Department of Health (DOH) logged in 302 new infections yesterday, the highest single-day increase since April 6, 2020.

Among these 302 new infections, 179 were from the National Capital Region, 98  from Region 7, while the remaining 43 were not geographically-identified in the data released by the Health Department.

Are we flattening the curve?

In a virtual presser, DOH Undersecretary Vergeire said that the signs of the curve flattening is now evident, “pero hindi dapat tayo makampante. Hindi pa tapos ang laban”, she immediately added. (We shouldn’t be complacent. The fight is not over yet.)

“Kung noon po ay nakikita natin na dumodoble ang kaso at ang bilang ng mga namamatay sa loob lamang ng tatlong araw, ngayon ay umaabot na po sa pitong araw bago dumoble ang ating mga numero.” (If before, we saw the cases and deaths doubling in number in a span of three days, now, it takes seven days for the numbers to double.) According to Usec Vergeire, this is an indication that the preventive measures that the government has implemented are effective. But as the lockdown eases, the need to stay vigilant must remain.

National level: Continued flattening of the curve

Health Usec Vergeire interviewed Dr. John Wong, an epidemiologist who is also a part of the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) data analytics group on the continued flattening of the curve at a national level.

“When the ECQ was applied, it went from (a) one to two-day doubling time. Right now, (there’s a) maybe six-day doubling time at a national level,” Wong explained.

“There’s a greater improvement in Luzon, (a) small improvement in Visayas, but the greatest improvement is in Mindanao.”  He noted that Mindanao has decreased its deaths. “Its doubling time is more than seven days and for cases, it has also leveled up, except that recently, for the past two days, there is an increase in cases.”

Wong noted that the country is starting to flatten the curve as it gets fewer cases everyday with a more successful prevention of transmission. But the assurance that the country has won against COVID-19 is yet to be guaranteed.

“We can’t say that we have won against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine,” he stated.