By Myris Lee
Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana said in June 20’s Laging Handa briefing that there is no indication yet to put Metro Manila under Alert Level 2 amid the uptick of COVID-19 cases in the region.
“At this point naman, walang indikasyon na kailangan natin mag-move to Alert Level 2. Ang pinakapakay ng ating alert level system is really to preserve the healthcare system. Malayo po tayo dun sa point na iisipin natin mao-overwhelm ulit,” Salvana said.
He also said the National Capital Region (NCR) is still far from being escalated to the moderate risk category based on Department of Health (DOH) parameters, since it would require more than 800 cases daily for two weeks to reach an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of six cases per 100,000 population and at least 50% or higher healthcare utilization rate.
“We should be seeing about 800 plus cases per day in Metro Manila, not nationwide – in NCR alone, for the next two weeks para mag-move tayo towards doon sa moderate-risk classification,” he said.
“Kasama rin doon ay dapat iyong ating hospital utilization rate should be 50% or above. Ngayon ay nasa low 20s po tayo sa utilization. Bagama’t positive iyong ating two-week growth rate, iyong antas ng actual number of cases is still manageable in terms of the healthcare capacity,” he added.
The DOH technical advisory member said the government’s effort to improve the country’s vaccination rate, wearing of masks, and observing other minimum health protocols are keeping the number of hospitalizations low despite the fast transmission of Omicron sub-variants.
“Unang-una, iyong vaccination rates natin are really keeping the number of hospitalizations very low. Even if tumataas iyong actually number of cases, iyong number of people who need urgent medical care, acute medical care in the hospitals is very, very low and pangalawa, iyong patuloy na paggamit ng mask ng mga tao,” he said. – ag
