DOH: No truth to reports of artificial rise in COVID-19 cases 2 days before Eleksyon 2022

The Department of Health on Saturday debunked rumors circulating that the DOH will report an artificial surge in COVID-19 cases two days before Eleksyon 2022 "for partisan use against any candidate at any level."

"The Department of Health categorically denies unfounded rumors that it will report an artificial increase in COVID-19 cases close to election day for partisan use against any candidate at any level," the DOH said.

The department said the country still has "low COVID-19 case trends" due to the public's compliance to minimum public health standards.

"Our high vaccination coverage for the primary series and very good compliance to minimum public health standards (MPHS) have resulted in low COVID-19 case trends with an average of 195 cases daily in the past week and an overall national positivity rate of 1.2%," the DOH said.

On Friday, the DOH logged 184 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s caseload to 3,685,403.

Based on the DOH’s latest data, the active infections dropped from 9,585 on Thursday to 8,389 on Friday.

The DOH said it "also uses other metrics such as healthcare utilization to evaluate and recommend to higher authorities whether an escalation or de-escalation of Alert Levels is warranted."

The department then advised the public to help prevent further transmission of COVID-19 "by wearing the B-est-fitted mask, I-solate when sick, D-ouble up protection with vaccination and boosters, and ensuring good A-airflow" or BIDA.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday said there is no indication that there will be a lockdown after Eleksyon 2022 due to a possible rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.

"Sa ngayon, walang indikasyon na magkakaroon ng lockdown matapos ang eleksyon," Duque said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(As of now, there is no indication that there will be a lockdown after the elections.)

Duque said if needed, there will only be granular lockdowns and not a widespread lockdown. —KG, GMA News