The number of COVID-19 infections in the country may reach as high as 19,000 per day by the end of August, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
Based on its latest projections, the department said, COVID-19 cases should be on a “continuous uptrend” – a scenario that the government intends to stem with the launching of its “PinasLakas” campaign that aims to administer 23 million booster shots to 50 percent of the country’s eligible population in the next three months.
“This is our only way forward,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said during the launch at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange Tuesday.
The campaign also aims to vaccinate 90 percent of the target senior-citizen population group within the period and give a booster shot to 50 percent of the 71 million fully inoculated Filipinos.
Despite the high projection until the end of August, the DOH said the number of infections may be “slower and more controlled” if the primary vaccine series and booster coverage are improved, and the public complies with minimum health standards.
If these two things happen, then the number of infections could go down to about 6,194 to 8,346 cases per day during the same period, the DOH said.
“While we do consider COVID-19 case numbers in determining an area’s alert level, we would like to emphasize the larger focus we have on admission and hospital utilization rates,” the DOH said in a statement.
“With the advances in COVID-19 treatment and the availability of vaccines to combat severe and critical disease, as well as deaths, we now have the capability to reduce the vulnerable population and keep hospital utilization and fatalities to a minimum,” it said.
Based on OCTA Research’s latest data, the health care utilization rate (HCUR) for COVID-19 in Bohol and Iloilo, exceeded the 50 percent threshold, recording 57.7 percent and 52.4 percent, respectively, on Sunday, July 24.
The National Capital Region’s (NCR) one-week HCUR also climbed from 30.7 percent to 31.7 percent during the same period, with 27.3 percent of its intensive care units (ICU) occupied.
In line with this, DOH called on the public to continue wearing of the best-fitting face masks, isolating and informing close contacts when sick, doubling-up protection through vaccines, and ensuring good airflow to control the spread of the virus.
“If such factors will be adhered to and implemented by ourselves immediately, a decline in cases may be observed sooner,” it said.
The Philippines on Tuesday registered 2,360 new COVID-19 infections, increasing the nationwide tally to 3,757,762.
The active COVID-19 case tally climbed to 27,643 from 27,625 on Monday.
In the last two weeks, the National Capital Region (NCR) logged 12,782 cases, followed by Calabarzon with 8,165, Central Luzon with 3,671, Western Visayas with 2,498, and Central Visayas with 1,438.
The DOH said 2,341 new patients recovered bringing the country’s recovery tally to 3,669,425.
No new deaths were recorded as the death toll remained at 60,694.
At least 7,172 beds were occupied, while 21,980 were still vacant as the bed occupancy in the country stood at 24.6 percent as of July 24.
A total of 20,896 people were tested, while 330 testing labs submitted data as of July 25, according to the DOH.
Vergeire said the DOH has shifted its focus to saving lives while also protecting livelihoods.
“We are promoting vaccination on top of our usual health protocols, instead of imposing restrictions. While the new Omicron subvariants are indeed still spreading, cases have been reported to be mild and can be allowed to heal at home.”
In line with the President’s statements in the State of the Nation Address (SONA), there are no plans to execute any further lockdown measures moving forward in the pandemic.
Also on Monday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is preparing to boost support for the health sciences especially in the manufacture of more generic drugs, by ensuring the provision of incentives allowable under existing laws and regulations.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual reiterated the President’s call at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday calling for more manufacturers of generic medicines to spread the benefits of affordable health support to all Filipinos across the country.
“That is something that we are going to encourage, either provided to us by multinationals but formulated and manufactured in the Philippines through tolling by local companies,” he said during the post-SONA briefing of the new Cabinet.
He said the DTI is also keen on having the local pharmaceutical industries go into the production of more generic medicines to create a reliable and stable local supply chain and reduce dependency from imported medicines.
Pascual underscored the significance of the private sector investing on health and medical-related projects, “thus we have to make it easy for them.”