Public Health Expert Dr. Anthony Leachon said the public need not be alarmed by the reported increase in the positivity rate of COVID-19 infections and advised the continued use of face masks.
“We should not worry. Despite our positivity rate (14.3%) which is more than the benchmark of the World Health Organization (WHO), the symptoms are mild and the hospitalization utilization rate is just 22%,” Leachon said.
Leachon, the former consultant of the National Task Force on COVID-19 under the Duterte administration, cited that the occupancy rate in hospitals is still considered “low risk.”
However, he reminded the public to continue adhering to the minimum public health standards such as wearing face masks and practicing physical distancing.
“They should retain the use of the face mask, but do not limit indoor capacity because that will hurt the economy,” Leachon said.
He also said should always watch out for COVID-19 symptoms so that those with comorbidities can be protected.
Leachon said aside from flu-like symptoms, the COVID-19 Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 or “Arcturus” causes “pink eye” or sore eyes, which was identified as one of the new symptoms associated with the COVID-19 virus subvariant.
He said Arcturus has been declared a “variant of interest” and not a “variant of concern.” Leachon also believes there is still no reason for the government to elevate the country’s status to COVID-19 Alert Level 2.
Still, he said that the use of face masks remains a tool to protect the public from the virus.
He said he also supports the request of the private sector for boosters shots to be commercialized to avoid wastage.
Leachon added that He also said the League of Governors can ask the Department of Health (DOH) for the vaccines to be deployed to tourism areas.
The number of cases of COVID-19 remained the highest in Metro Manila, but hospitalization remains low. Independent research firm OCTA Research said the percentage of people confirmed to have COVID-19 increased to 14.3% on Thursday from 9 percent a week ago.
The latest positivity rate is beyond the 5% benchmark recommended by the WHO.
As of Friday, the DOH said the Philippines has logged 4,091,854 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 5,293 are active and 66,444 have resulted in deaths.