Cases now ‘manageable’ but Delta effects not yet reversed: DOH

MANILA – The number of active coronavirus cases in the Philippines is now at a “manageable” level, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Friday as she cited the consistent decline in infections since the Delta variant outbreak.

She, however, said it cannot be concluded yet that the surge’s effects have already been reversed.

“We cannot really say that we have already reversed because there are still cases ongoing, there are still areas na may mataas ang kaso (at) mayroon pa ring pagkapuno ng hospital (that have high number of cases and there are still some hospitals that are full),” Vergeire said in a virtual briefing.

“Kailangan lahat tayo ay maging maingat muna, kailangan lahat tayo ay ‘di maging complacent at lahat tayo ipagpatuloy natin ang ating mga pagsunod sa ating mga safety protocols para tuloy-tuloy nang bumaba ang mga kaso (This is why we need to remain vigilant. We cannot be complacent and we need to continue following the safety protocols to sustain this decrease),” she added.

Vergeire, on the other hand, confirmed that the continued decline in infections is no longer artificial.

Citing the latest data from the agency, Vergeire said the average daily cases in Metro Manila is now at 493, down from the more than 5,000 cases recorded daily at the height of the Delta surge.

Nationwide, the average number of cases fell to 2,888 from the peak of almost 21,000 cases per day.

“Hindi na artificial ito. Nakita natin na talagang bumaba na ang mga kaso, nakita rin natin na kasabay ng pagbaba ng mga kaso ay bumaba na rin ang admission sa mga hospital (This is no longer artificial, the cases are really going down, and we also see that the admissions in our hospitals are decreasing),” she said.

While there are still places with high intensive care unit (ICU) utilization rate, Vergeire said the number of these areas continue to decrease as the weeks pass by,

“We were able to contain itong pagtaas ng kaso na ito, naipababa natin ngayon sa level na manageable na para sa ating lahat (We were able to contain the growth and we bring it down to a manageable level to all of us),” she said.

As of November 5, the number of active cases in the country is at 37,377.

Nationwide, currently being utilized are 43 percent of 3,900 ICU beds, 33 percent of 20,800 isolation beds, and 27 percent of 14,100 ward beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients.