MANILA, Philippines — The number of COVID-19 infections in the Philippines may reach around 4,000 a day by mid-January following the expected increase in mobility during the holiday season, the Department of Health said Friday.
There may be 4,114 COVID-19 cases per day by January 15, according to projections made by the FASSSTER (Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological ModeleR) team.
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In this scenario, the number of severe and critical admissions is expected to reach 2,252 by mid-January.
“However, we reiterate that there are many factors or measures to consider as to whether an area’s increase in COVID-19 cases and projections may or may not happen. This means metrics such as transmission rate, contact rate, and longer durations of infectiousness are not sole drivers of transmission,” the DOH said.
The Philippines has hit a COVID-19 plateau, with 973 cases per day reported for the week of December 16 to 22. The figure was 5% lower than what was reported from a week before.
The country recorded a 21.73% utilization rate of available COVID-19 beds across the archipelago. Severe and critical admissions made up 10.57% of the country’s total COVID-19 admissions, including those in emergency rooms.
The DOH urged local governments to increase the booster coverage in their localities to protect people, especially those who are vulnerable, from the severe and critical effects of COVID-19.
The Philippines has recorded over 4 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Of the figure, 16,900 are active cases.