Philippines' total virus cases may reach 4M by end of 2021 —UP COVID-19 response team

The Philippines' total tally of COVID-19 cases could reach four million by the end of the year if the current trend in new infections continues, a member of the UP COVID-19 response team said Tuesday.

Citing their projections, UP team spokesman Dr. Jomar Rabajante said daily cases may reach 30,000 until the end of September and will decrease by the start of October.

"Itong projections naming ito lumalabas kung tingnan natin ang cumulative cases, posibleng lumampas sa 3 million at even 4 million bago matapos ang 2021," he said in a radio interview.

(Our projections show that our cumulative cases could reach 3 million and even 4 million before 2021 ends.)

At their endcov.ph website, UP experts said cumulative cases may move past 3 million in October and may exceed 4 million by December 2021.

With this, Rabajante warned that hospitals all over the country could be overwhelmed as cases spike not only in Metro Manila but also in other regions.

"Sa national naman, ito ang delikado, kasi yung pagtaas ng kaso, kung titignan natin ang data, hindi lang sa NCR [kundi pati sa] Region 4, Region 3 hanggang Visayas at Mindanao, mataas po," he said.

(At the national level, it could be dangerous because of the increasing cases. If we look at the data, NCR, Region 4, Region 3 and Visayas and Mindanao areas all report increasing cases.)

On Monday, the Philippines logged 22,366 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the country's total tally to 1,976,202. It was also the highest number recorded in a day since the start of the pandemic. —KBK, GMA News