MANILA – The reported 10 percent decline in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past week compared with the previous one is not yet indicative of a downward trend of the disease’s transmission, an infectious disease expert warned on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Laging Handa public briefing, Dr. Edsel Salvana, who is also a member of the Department of Health (DOH) technical advisory group on infectious diseases, said not all positive cases were probably being reported.
“It’s difficult to say that the decline will be continuing because we know that there are those who use antigen tests that are actually not reported [when the result is positive],” Salvana said.
The DOH on Monday reported 16,017 new COVID-19 cases from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, lower by 10.47 percent compared with the 17,891 new cases from Sept. 19 to Sept. 25. The latest daily average number of new cases declined to 2,288 from 2,556.
Salvana added that although the health-care utilization rate remained low throughout the country, it does not mean that fewer people are getting sick anymore because most of the cases are mild or asymptomatic and do not require hospital admission.
The possibility of the cases increasing again later remains because of the population’s booster coverage, he added.
Nevertheless, the doctor said the 10-percent decline was “good news” because some health experts were concerned about a spike in two to four weeks following the opening of face-to-face classes in August and the removal of the outdoor masking rule.
Salvana said the “most important” part of the DOH figures was that only four new severe or critical cases were reported in the past week.
This, he said, indicates that vaccines remain to be effective in preventing people who catch COVID from getting worse.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 guidelines in schools need not be revised amid reported infections among students, teachers, and nonteaching personnel, with transmission bound to happen because the pandemic is not yet over, according to DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“Cases will be there as long as the infections are not severe among children. Transmission may be there, but it is cut by the surveillance and monitoring of safety officers,” Vergeire told reporters on Tuesday.
She said cases were “expected” because the virus “is still here.”
The health secretary noted that the government would rethink COVID-19 policies in schools once hospitalizations among the younger population increase.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers had blamed “negligence” and “poor health measures” of the Department of Education (DepEd). Through its Order No. 34, the DepEd set the policies for the prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
The DepEd last week confirmed that some schools have reported cases of COVID-19 among students and personnel. The DOH, however, could not provide the case tally in schools as it is still coordinating with the DepEd. (Jerome Aning, Kathleen de Villa © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
