by Meldred Ivy Padilla
Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday (April 5) said the Philippines is winning the battle against COVID-19.
In his report during President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Talk to the People, Duque shared the decrease in COVID-19 cases from March 30 to April 5, where recorded cases declined to 2,548 compared to 2,643 cases last week.
The fatality rate remains low at 1.61% while the recovery rate is at 97.47%. Meanwhile, the positivity rate continued to go down as 1.8% out of the 20,0990 tests were confirmed positive.
Moreover, the healthcare utilization rate stayed low with 17.7% non-intensive care unit (ICU) cases, 15.6% ICU bed cases, and 12.4% or 785 severe admissions out of the 6,327 total admissions.
Duque also emphasized that cumulative cases in the country were low compared to other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, leading the Philippines to the 5th rank.
“Ito na po ‘yung sinasabi ko kanina na compared to the other ASEAN countries, pagdating po sa cumulative confirmed cases, ito po, ang Vietnam, nangunguna. Nasa nine million na po ang kanilang cumulative. Indonesia, nasa 4.02 million, Myanmar, ganoon din, four million, Thailand, 3.74 million, Philippines, 3.6 million po, Mr. President. So panlima lang po tayo at ibig sabihin, mas maganda po ang ating pagtugon sa pandemyang ito,” Duque furthered.
With the recent record, 74% of the 90 million target population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. -gb
