THE health department on Tuesday said the number of new COVID-19 cases may go down to 70 a day by the end of April if the public will continue to observe minimum public health standards.
Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the other factors that will contribute to the decreasing the daily number of new cases are the current mobility patterns and the vaccination rate.
“By April 30, nationally, we will have daily cases of 70 hanggang 268. So, 70 cases lang ang makukuha natin by end of April kung current tayo na compliant sa minimum public health standards at tsaka ‘yung bakunahan natin ganito ang antas pati ‘yung mobility,” Vergeire said.
Minimum health standards refer to the wearing of face masks, frequent hand washing, proper coughing etiquette, and social distancing.
The health official said failure to follow health protocols may result in 670 new cases a day in the same time frame.
Vergeire said the projections were only based on assumptions and were “not cast in stone.”
She said there might still be other risk factors that may affect the data such as entry of new COVID-19 variants in the country.
“Anything can still happen. There are a lot of risk factors present right now na maaring makatulong sa pagtaas ng kaso in the coming weeks or months. Kailangan lang talaga na magtulong-tulong tayo,” Vergeire said.
Asked how the government would ensure that COVID-19 cases abroad particularly in Shanghai would spill over to the Philippines, Vergeire said safety were in place even after the Philippines opened its borders to foreign travelers.
“Ang kailangan nating maintindihan, hindi na tayo pwedeng magsasara, magbubukas, magsasara, magbubukas,” Vergeire said.
“Kailangan, we should be able to rely on these strategies that we impose or implement para maproteksyunan natin ang populasyon,” she added.
metrosundaily
