THE Department of Health (DOH) sees daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country increasing to nearly 2,300 by the end of 2022 due to mass gatherings, such as get-togethers and parties, to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays.
In an online media forum, DOH – Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea de Guzman said adherence to minimum public health standards (MPHS) are expected to be low during the holiday celebrations.
“The holiday season will possibly lead to more interaction, less physical distancing, and decline in MPHS compliance,” De Guzman said.
She warned that “if our MPHS compliance further decreases, our daily cases will actually, may probably range from 1,114 to as high as 2,294 by the end of December.”
The latest DOH bulletin showed an average of 1,147 cases daily for the period of November 21 to 27.
On the other hand, the health official said that if the adherence level to MPHS will remain unchanged, cases may drop to less than 500 per day.
“If our current minimum public health standards compliance remains the same, it is possible that we will see continued decrease in daily cases,” she said, adding: “You may see numbers totaling to just around 429 by December of 2022.”
Given the expected decline in MPHS adherence, she urged the public to consider getting vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
Doing so, she said, will also lead to COVID-19 cases not translating to higher hospitalization rates.
“We can prevent that by increasing our vaccinations. We will have much lower admissions if we are able to increase our vaccination rates,” she said.
“We are really focused on vaccination. Again, we need to maintain that high immunity wall not just for ourselves, but for our family, for our circles,” added de Guzman.
