VERGEIRE SAYS

DOH cautiously accepted forecast of 100k COVID-19 cases by end-August

The Department of Health accepts the projection that the COVID-19 cases will reach 100,000 by the end of August but noted the estimate should be interpreted with ‘caution’.

In a press conference on Wednesday, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire pointed out that some factors can still affect the scientific models used to make the assumption.

“Lagi namin pinapaliwanag kapag estimates katulad ng sa UP (University of the Philippines), tinatanggap namin 'yan,” she said.

“That serves something that we can refer to kapag nag-a-analyze kami pero kailangan nating i-interpret with caution kapag estimates,” she added.

On Tuesday, Guido David from the UP Institute of Mathematics and Ranjit Rye of the UP Department of Political Science said the actual number of cases may still go beyond the 100,000 projection

“So ‘yang 95,000 o 100,000 na nga ngayon ay ginawa nila base sa ganyang kalkulasyon at pinakikinggan natin sila,” Vergeire said.

With this projection Vergeire encouraged the public to do their part in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“So tayo, kasi nakikita at naibigay sa akin ‘yung impormasyon na iyan, ay pinaiigting natin ang impormasyon sa ating kababayan  ngayon na sana ginagawa natin ‘yung dapat nating gawin for us to not to be able to reach that 100,000 by end of August na estimated by the UP group,” she said.

On Wednesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases reached 50,359 with a record-high 2,539 newly reported infections—1,922 “fresh” cases and 617 late reported.

At least 12,588 have already recovered, while 1,314 have died, according to the DOH. —LBG, GMA News