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A HEALTH official has acknowledged the “Number 20” ranking that the Philippines rose to in terms of the number of Covid-19 cases, but explained that simply citing this, without noting the actual active cases and the consistently low mortality rate, does not paints a complete and accurate picture of the pandemic situation in the country.
Undersecretary of Health Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the Johns Hopkins University report that places the Philippines among the 20 countries with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world is based solely on the “cumulative” number of cases.
“We would have to look at the number of active cases, recoveries and deaths. When we look at our recovery rate, we are already at 80 percent or more. When we look at the fatality, it is stable at less than 2 percent, ”Vergeire said in an online media forum.
She noted: “So it’s not just about numbers. We have to look at other variables. We have to focus on active cases and not on the cumulative number of cases. “
He cited several interventions that helped improve the country’s response to Covid-19, such as expanded testing capacity that has already reached around 3.5 million tests, health system capacity, and contact tracing efforts.
“Although we have clusters of cases in specific areas of the country, so, yes, the number may increase, but we have to see how we are doing in our response. [to Covid-19], “she added.
“Similar to the decreasing trend at the national level, we continue to register a lower number of cases in the National Capital Region, from 16 thousand weekly cases from August 6 to 12, down to 3,772 weekly cases as of September 28,” he emphasized.
As of 4 p.m. on October 2, the DOH reported that the total number of Covid-19 cases was 316,678 after 2,611 newly confirmed cases were recorded.
Of the confirmed cases, 56,445 (17.8 percent) are active cases, 254,617 (80.4 percent) have recovered, and 5,616 (1.8 percent) have died.
The main regions with cases in the last two weeks were NCR (870 or 40 percent), Region 4A (400 or 19 percent) and Region 6 (255 or 12 percent).
There were 416 recoveries and 56 deaths.
