By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The country’s average daily coronavirus cases from February 11 to 17 are 52% lower than the previous week, effectively controlling the spread of the Omicron and other variants, a health official said Friday (Feb. 18).
“Atin na pong nalampasan ang hamon na buhat ng Omicron at kasalukuyan na po tayong nasa low-risk case classification (We have overcome the challenge of Omicron and we’re now at low-risk case classification),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing.
Citing the latest data, Vergeire said all regions in the country have recorded a drop of at least 1,000 daily average cases this week compared to the previous week.
Except for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Region 11, she said all regions are now at low-risk case classification.
“Lahat pa rin ng rehiyon ay nagpapakita rin ng negative two-week growth rates na nakikita natin sa pagbaba ng bilang ng mga bagong kaso ng COVID-19 (All regions have shown a negative two-week growth rate that we have observed during downward trends in new cases of COVID-19),” Vergeire said.
The country’s health care utilization rate (HCUR), or the availability of hospital beds and other facilities, is currently at low risk except for Region 11—currently at moderate risk for its utilization of intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
The Omicron variant, Vergeire said, has caused the fastest spread of COVID-19 in the country but was also put under control in a record time.
“Bagama’t lubhang dumami ang ating mga kaso, hindi po ito sinabayan ng pagtaas ng mga hospitalized cases at dahil ‘yan ng masusing pag-monitor at pag-manage natin sa virus gayundin sa masigasig nating pagsunod sa minimum public health standards at mabilisang pagbabakuna (Despite the steep rise in cases, it did not come with a rise in hospitalizations because of our extensive monitoring and management of the virus as well as observation of minimum public health standards),” she said.
To date, she said the country has an average daily number of cases at 2,876.
She warned against being complacent against COVID-19 as the number of cases may still rise, especially with the start of the electoral campaign season.
She asked national and local candidates in the upcoming polls to “provide creative avenues” to engage with voters to help end the pandemic.
“Nananawagan po kami sa mga nangangandidato na kung maaari po ay maiwasan natin ang malawakang campaign sorties na maaaring magdulot ng overcrowding at maaaring COVID-19 super spreader events (We call on all candidates to avoid massive campaign sorties that may result in overcrowding and end up becoming COVID-19 super spreader events),” Vergeire said.
The DOH COVID-19 bulletin released Friday showed that there are 2,232 new cases, 3,010 new recoveries, and 79 new deaths from COVID-19—with active cases now sitting at 65,796. (PNA)
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