100,000 COVID-19 cases in Manila by August: Professor
MANILA: The number of cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could breach the 100,000 mark in the Philippines by August if the government fails to “rethink solutions,” particularly those deemed to be not working in response to the health emergency.
This was the warning from Guido David, a mathematics professor from the state-owned University of the Philippines and member of a research team that releases regular forecasts in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
David explained he based his warning on latest data from the Department of Health, as he explained: “The trajectory right now is quite high since we went under GCQ (general comvictims are discovered in isolated areas.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that 58 people had been confirmed dead, with a further four feared to have lost their lives.
Suga said authorities were investigating whether four other deaths were linked to the floods, adding that 17 people were missing and a dozen injured.
Ater five days blocked by floodwater and landslides, troops finally managed to rescue munity quarantine. It looks like we would reach at least 65,000 by the end of July.”
“(But) based on our projection,” he added, “it would be higher than 95,000 by the end of August. It could even be over 100,000 if we will not change our system, the way we handle the pandemic.”
David, for instance, cited the urgent need the the government, especially health experts, to rethink solutions particularly those deemed to be not effective and working in response to the dreaded ailment.
One of the issues concerns mobility such as the increase in COVID-19 cases among personnel of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 in which the some 40 residents in the village of Ashikita in Kumamoto region.
Kinuyo Nakamura, 68, burst into tears of relief confirmed cases have already reached more than 200 that affected adversely its operations, according to David.
“We need to find solutions for workers on how we can bring them to their workplaces,” David said.
As of July 8, the health department reported that the number of confirmed virus cases have soared to 50,359 from 2,539 new cases with the death toll at 1,314 and 202 new recoveries for a total of 12,588.
The David warning followed a report from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource centre that the Philippines has landed second to Indonesia with the highest number of virus cases in Southeast Asia. as she finally made it to an evacuation centre.
“Gosh, it was scary. My house, it’s such a mess, I cannot live there anymore,” she said as she came across someone she knew at the shelter.
“We have experienced flooding disasters in the past many times. But this one doesn’t compare. Rather than being afraid, I was just focused on escaping,” she told public broadcaster NHK.
As of Monday, the report said Indonesia recorded 64,958 cases followed by the Philippines with 46,353 and Singapore with 44,983.
But Harry Roque, the presidential spokesman, downplayed the report, saying there was no cause for alarm and that the government has increased the capacity of the healthcare system during the first few months of the lockdown.
Compared to other countries, Roque maintained that the Philippines has been “winning significantly in the fight against COVID-19,” adding the government has doubled its efforts in handling the crisis to ensure that the most vulnerable people are protected.