Decreasing COVID-19 cases due to high vax rate, not low testing –DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said the declining number of new COVID-19 infections are brought about by the improved vaccination rate in the country and not because of a low testing rate.

In an interview on ANC, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they did expect that severe and critical cases would be low since at least 72% of the country’s eligible population have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as compared to the Delta surge in July to October 2021.

“The number of cases are going down. All of the regions have minimal case classification. Positivity rate is all below 5%. So meaning, cases are really declining and we are also saying that it’s all because of the vaccines as well,” she said.

The Philippines recorded a total of 2,726 new COVID-19 cases from March 21 to March 27, lower by 24% than the previous week's tally.

Among the new infections this week, none was tagged as severe or critical.

Asked if this data was due to low testing capacity, Vergeire said, “If we look at our testing right now, our laboratories are saying that really, cases or the number of individuals going to them to be tested are declining or being reduced tremendously compared from January to March.”

“It’s not less testing, cases are declining,” she added.

Vergeire, however, recognized that people might be resorting to using antigen home test kits, but said reports from their regional offices also indicate that they are not seeing any uptick in the infections.

Vergeire also noted that some areas see a slight increase of cases but were “not significant” and were not big enough to affect the country’s healthcare system.

Based on DOH’s latest report, 65.6 million individuals or 72.93% of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, 11.8 million have received their booster shots after reaching the three to six-month requirement. —KBK, GMA News