Philippine COVID-19 cases apparently declining —Duque

New COVID-19 cases across the country appear to be declining, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a report to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Speaking at a Cabinet briefing aired on state-run PTV, Duque said the Philippines posted 15,592 new cases on Wednesday compared to 16,361 cases the day before. Earlier this month, the country registered more than 20,000 cases a day.

“Mukhang may pagbaba ng mga naitatalang bagong kaso, at sana po ay magpatuloy ito at magkaroon po tayo ng reversal ng atin pong trend at makikita na ang pagbaba ng mga kaso,” Duque said.

(New cases seem to be falling. We hope this will continue so that we can have a reversal of the trend and see a decline in cases.)

Testing czar Vince Dizon, however, said cases remain “very high.”

“We have to understand as the numbers show, we are not out of the woods [yet] [because of the] Delta variant or even if there seems to be a slight decline in cases, these cases are still very high. And our hospitals are still overburdened,” Dizon said in the same briefing.

“But the most worrisome problem is the healthcare workers getting sick, Mr. President, and we really need to augment and help them and really assist our hospitals as much as we can.”

The country’s intensive care unit beds and ward beds for COVID-19 patients remain at high risk, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

High risk means the occupancy rate is more than 70% but less than 85%.

Around 28% of the total 4,400 ICU beds in the country are occupied while 77% of the 1,600 beds in the National Capital Region (NCR) are in use, the DOH said in a report on Wednesday.

Data also showed that 72% of the 15,600 ward beds in the Philippines are being utilized while 71% of the 4,300 ward beds in NCR are in use. —LBG, GMA News