DOH welcomes positive outlook on pandemic response

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday welcomed a positive outlook on the government’s pandemic response as national case trends continue to decline.

Data from the DOH showed a further decline in the average daily cases in the recent week.

The nationwide risk classification remains low with a recent negative 49 percent two-week growth rate and moderate average daily attack rate at 1.55 cases per 100,000 population.

Out of 121 provinces, highly-urbanized cities, and independent component cities in the country, 89 percent are under Alert Level 2 with minimal to low-risk case classification, while the remaining are under Alert Level 3, and with 1 province at Alert Level 4.

Based on the information generated from Our World in Data of the Oxford University as of November 22, the Philippines has lower confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths per one million population compared to some neighboring countries in Asean.

Data from the World Health Organization as of November 23 also show that the country ranked 65th in terms of countries with the most number of active cases, 134th in terms of Covid-19 cases per million, 120th in terms of deaths per million, and 93rd in terms of case fatality rate.

These rankings have improved since the end of case peaks recorded last September 2021.

“DOH had remained resolute and persistent, working diligently at both policy and operational levels anchored on the whole-of-government, whole-of-society, and whole-of-systems approach. Our agile decision-making is always data-driven and informed by best available evidence, and always centered on what is best for the safety and health of Filipinos,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a news release.

The DOH and other agencies continue to adopt policies and implement measures based on case trends and projections, available resources, and evolving evidence.

“Despite the limited health systems capacity, we were able to achieve better health outcomes because of the whole-of-nation approach. And as we continue to work towards realizing the vision of Universal Health Care for all Filipinos, we would like to dedicate our wins against the pandemic to our healthcare workers who have selflessly devoted their lives in providing both Covid and non-Covid-19 health care to Filipinos,” Duque said.

With the availability of vaccines as an added defense against the disease, the Philippines is also pushing to protect more of its population through vaccination.

The DOH called on the public to take to heart the bayanihan spirit and work together to reach the goal of 15 million individuals inoculated in the upcoming three-day National Vaccination Day from November 29 to December 1.

“Let’s get ready for Bayanihan Bakunahan! We encourage all Filipinos to volunteer during this occasion and work together to inoculate more of our kababayan for us to safely reopen the economy,” Duque said.