DOH cites jump in recoveries after posting Covid fatality spike
THE Philippines has reported a significant increase of 4,325 recoveries, the highest recorded number of individuals who have recovered in a single day, as the number of cases also jumped to 57,006 on Monday.
The development came on the heels of the Department of Health’s delay in posting its case bulletin on Sunday, revealing it only on Monday morning. It showed a record intraday fatality count of 162 and 2,009 recoveries.
“We would like to make it clear that the 162 deaths recorded yesterday does not mean that they all died yesterday,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a televised briefing on Monday morning.
Vergeire said 51 percent of the additional number of deaths posted Sunday happened in July, 90
percent occurred in June; 12 percent in May; and 1 percent in April.
Meanwhile, at the regular 4 p.m. forum on Monday (July 13), the Department of Health (DOH) reported 836 positive cases based on the total tests done by 57 out of 82 current operational labs.
The DOH also recorded the total number of recoveries at 20,371.
There were 65 Covid-19 fatalities reported. The death toll stood at 1,599.
Of the 65 reported deaths, 9 (14 percent) occurred in July, 54 (83 percent) in June, and 2 (3 percent) in May.
Deaths were from Region 7 with 59 (91 percent); National Capital Region, 4 ( 6 percent); and Region 11 with 1 (2 percent).
Meanwhile the DOH said that “1 case (2 percent) had an unspecified region.”
Eighty-nine duplicates were removed from total case count. The total cases reported may be subject to change as these numbers undergo constant cleaning and validation.
Data management
ON Monday, Vergeire said the DOH had made significant improvements in the data management system.
“Our partners are reporting more timely and more complete data. And our delays in reporting lag are getting shorter,” Vergeire said, as she conveyed DOH’S assurances that it will continue to have increased reporting of recoveries and deaths—which will lower the number of active cases.
“Finally, we appeal to everyone, let us prevent our death curves from rising up to the numbers in March,” she said noting that the death curve in March was then rising.
“Let us all make sure—by doing our part in minimum health standards—we don’t go back to March,” Vergeire said.
She reiterated that the outlook of the country’s pandemic response depends highly on the public’s compliance with prescribed health protocols.
Vergeire explained that the public must remain vigilant and practice the infection prevention and control measures, such as proper use of personal protective equipment (PPES), physical distancing and proper hygiene, to help limit the spread of the virus.
With the government ramping up testing, she cautioned that the current effort to expand testing does not guarantee the public’s safety and people should continue to observe the DOH’S health guidelines.
Wearing of masks
THE DOH also stressed the importance of wearing a mask as part of the prescribed minimum health standards to ensure utmost protection from Covid-19.
Earlier, Dr. Edsel Salvana, a member of the DOH Technical Advisory Group and director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila, said the virus is already assumed to be “airborne” when conducting aerosolgenerating procedures in hospitals.
“This is why our healthcare workers use N95 masks and conduct strict infection prevention and control measures,” Vergeire said in a televised press conference.
Although more definitive studies are necessary for non-healthcare settings, the public is enjoined to wear masks and practice the minimum health standards to reduce the transmission of the virus.
According to studies, wearing masks lowers the chance of transmission by up to 85 percent, while maintaining a physical distance of one meter reduces the risk of transmission by 80 percent.
Vergeire also appealed to the public to work together in protecting the vulnerable sector.