(Eagle News) – There are indications that the Philippines has started to “flatten the curve” as the rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths slow down, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, May 6.
In a virtual presser, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the two indicators showing the flattening of the curve – the doubling time of cases and the doubling time of deaths – have both slowed down from three days to seven.
“Kung noon po ay nakikita natin na dumodoble ang mga kaso at ang bilang ng mga namamatay sa loob lamang ng tatlong araw, ngayon ay nakikita natin na umaabot na po sa pitong araw bago dumoble ang ating mga numero (Before, the number of cases and deaths double in three days, but now, it’s seven days before the numbers double)”, Vergeire said.
Epidemiologist Dr. John Wong, who is part of the Inter-Agency Task Force’s subTechnical Working Group on data analytics expert group, said that the greatest improvement was seen in Mindanao, where doubling time of cases went from 2.5 days to 5.3 days.
“For mortality doubling time, the good news is for Luzon, outside of NCR, Visayas and Mindanao, the mortality doubling time is now seven days or more which is very slow doubling in terms of deaths,” Wong explained.
While 70% of cases are being recorded at the National Capital Region and surrounding provinces, most of COVID-19 related deaths that the country has now is outside the NCR.
“We are doing very well already inside the NCR. This could be the effect of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), but also the effect of our health workers at our hospitals being better at managing patients”, he said.
– Battle not yet won –
However, both Vergeire and Wong warned that it is still to early to say that the battle against COVID-19 have been won.
“We still cannot say we have won the battle against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine but at least for now, temporarily, we’ve been able to control the outbreak and find time for health system to increase its capacity”, Wong said.
Vergeire also clarified that flattening the curve does not mean the pandemic has ended.
“Kahit na tayo ay magkaroon na ng relaxation o mapunta tayo sa GCQ kung saka-sakali sa mga darating na araw, kailangan yung ating mga measures para tayo maprotektahan pati ang ating mga pamilya, ang ating komunidad, ay dapat gawin pa rin”, Vergeire said.
Eagle News Service
