The country is now seeing another “peak” of illnesses, with more COVID-19 cases projected to be registered in the following weeks, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stated that the NCR, which has seen a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, is being actively monitored.
She stated that the average number of cases in the region has more than doubled since the previous week, and the average daily attack rate has already risen to 1.02.
“Right now, what we’re seeing is that the number of cases are continuously increasing, especially here in the National Capital Region, and we can see that this is really the start of the peak in the number of cases,” Vergeire said.
“We are again guiding the public and making them aware that this might be the start that the cases will continuously rise in the next couple of weeks,” she added.
Aside from NCR, she said the DOH is keeping an eye on the rise in COVID-19 cases in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.
Despite the rise in instances, a Health official insisted that the country is not seeing another COVID-19 “surge.”
PH now seeing another ‘peak’ of COVID-19 cases – DOH
“Let us not call this a surge because we try to avoid using this term from the previous increases in cases because this has caused a lot of confusion among the public,” she said.
Vergeire further ascribed the rise in COVID-19 infections to introducing more transmissible Omnicron subvariants such as the BA 2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5, increasing mobility in the country and diminishing immunity among the vaccinated population.
According to the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), 70 million Filipinos have now been fully vaccinated, with at least 74.8 million receiving their first dose.
Meanwhile, booster uptake in the country remains a concern, with only 14.7 million people receiving their first booster dosage and 648,000 obtaining their second booster dose.
The second booster dose is currently available only to frontline healthcare personnel, seniors, and immunocompromised individuals.
The Philippines detected 612 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the active case count to 4,529, up from 4,176 on Saturday.
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