DOH: Second wave of COVID-19 cases peaked in March

The second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines peaked on March 31 when the Department of Health (DOH) reported 538 new infections, a health official said Wednesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country has been flattening its curve of infections since then.

“We are on our first major wave,” she said in a virtual press briefing.

“Accordingly, we had been flattening the curve in this current major wave with the cases averaging 220 cases lang po in the past five weeks. Malaking indikasyon po ito… this is longer than the incubation period of the virus,” Vergeire explained.

She added that the first wave was a “minor one” composed of the three Chinese nationals who became the country’s first cases of COVID-19 in January.

One of these patients died, becoming the first COVID-19 fatality outside the outbreak’s epicenter of China, while the other two recovered and returned home.

“This was already considered as a wave by our epidemiologists though we only had three cases before,” Vergeire said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that the country is already experiencing its second wave of infections. 

However, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea disputed the claim, arguing that President Rodrigo Duterte has made no such pronouncements yet. 

Senator Risa Hontiveros likewise questioned claims that the country is flattening the curve, citing a lack of consistent and reliable data on COVID-19 cases. 

The Philippines has recorded 13,221 cases with 2,932 recoveries and 842 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. — BM, GMA News