A recent increase in COVID-19 infections in the Philippines is not enough to tighten measures anew to control the spread of the virus, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
An average of 207 COVID-19 cases per day were reported from March 21 to 27, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.
The country’s daily average of coronavirus infections was only 156 from March 14 to 20.
“Nakikita natin may konting pagtaas sa… iba’t ibang lugar (We could see that there is an increase) but it is not significant for us to say na kailangan na uli natin magkaroon ng (that we need) restriction,” she told reporters.
Vergeire described COVID-19 related admissions as “manageable,” while she said deaths due to the virus were kept at a minimum.
As of March 26, some 307 cases or 8.4 percent of total COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the DOH’s COVID-19 case bulletin showed.
At least 285 or 14 percent of intensive care unit beds for COVID patients were occupied. The non-ICU bed utilization rate was at 16.5 percent.
“As of now, this kind of increase and decrease in the number of cases (is) expected (as) the virus is still here,” Vergeire said.
Based on the DOH’s COVID-19 Tracker, the Philippines has 8,626 active COVID-19 cases as of March 27.
Since the pandemic broke out in 2020, the country has recorded 4,080,410 coronavirus infections. The death toll stood at 66,342.
According to the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard as of March 15, more than 79.1 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against the virus.
The total showed that 24.1 million people had received their first boosters while 4.3 million had gotten their second boosters.