Numbers have gone down in the National Capital Region (NCR) in terms of its COVID-19 situation, according to health experts.
Dr. Alethea De Guzman, officer-in-charge and director of Department of Health (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau, said the region has been classified as “low risk.”
“Nagpakita siya ng pagbaba ng kaso by 23% in the last two weeks at ang kanyang ADAR [average daily attack rate] ay nasa 5.7 na lamang,” De Guzman said in a June 23 online forum.
DOH data showed that average case count declined in the past seven days to around 700 from more than 800 between June 9 to 15. During the March 29 to April surge, average daily cases in the region surpassed 5,000 count.
The OCTA Research Group also shared the same observation, saying that cases might further decline in the coming weeks.
“Based on this, we expect na within a few weeks, we might be hitting ‘yung 500 cases per day which is ‘yung pre-surge levels natin,” OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said.
The Philippine Hospital Association (PHA), likewise, saw an improvement in healthcare utilization from its overwhelmed state during the surge, including those that are not attending to COVID-19 patients.
“Sa ngayon bumabalik ang mga non-COVID patients at lumiliit naman ‘yung COVID patients. So lumuwag in that sense,” PHA Pres. Dr. Jaime Almora said.
Current data show that the hospital bed occupancy in NCR declined to 37% from moderate risk level. Intensive care unit (ICU) utilization also went down to 45.83%, isolation beds to 38.15%, and ward beds to 32.61%.
“We can safely say na vaccination has indeed contributed to the decline in cases, ‘yun naman talaga ang epekto ng bakuna,” De Guzman said.
The DOH reminded the public to remain compliant with minimum health standards despite the development in NCR. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
