THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said the number of cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country is on the decline, with the overall COVID situation further improving.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a briefing, said there is a decline in cases “up until this February.”
“We are gradually seeing the drop in COVID-19 cases,” she added.
Proof of this, she said, is the improvement in the risk classification of the whole country, now at “moderate risk case classification, from the previous high and critical risk levels.”
Vergeire said the positivity rate has also dropped to 35.4 percent from as high as 46.8 percent on January 18.
The average daily attack rate (ADAR), she said, has declined to 19.43 cases for every 100,000 population.
The healthcare utilization rate in the country has also gradually improved.
“Our national health systems capacity, total beds and ICU beds, are both at low risk. The number of those going to hospitals have really gone down,” she said.
Vergeire’s statements affirmed those of Guido David, a fellow of the OCTA Research, a group monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the county, who on Tuesday said a downtrend in COVID-19 infections continues to be observed in the entire country.
David also said OCTA projects that cases in the entire Philippines may drop to less than 10,000 per day by the middle of this month, and to 5,000 daily by the end of the month.
But while cases are going down nationwide, Vergeire said there has been an uptick in COVID-19 cases among children younger than five years.
“Cases in all age groups, except for children below five years old, are currently below their respective Delta peaks last September,” said Vergeire.
“There is an increase in cases for those aged below five years old. From 35 percent, the numbers this January increased to 37 percent,” she added.
But most of the cases involving children are mild ones, she said.
Children younger than four years are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, Vergeire reminded the public to properly dispose self-administered antigen test kits which she said are considered “infectious wastes.”
Based on DOH guidelines, all wastes generated from the use of self-administered antigen test kits, such as swabs, kits, gloves, and body fluids are considered infectious waste and must be separated from other wastes, or be given a dedicated area or space during handling and collection.
Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration approved the application for registration of two manufacturers of self-administered antigen test kits. Vergeire said the DOH hopes to release a price cap for the self-test kits “before the week ends.”
