By CNN Philippines Staff

Published Jul 26, 2022 2:10:46 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26) — The Department of Health estimates over 19,000 COVID-19 cases daily by August 31 as infections continuously increase in the country.

“Based on our latest projections and our current case trends, the number of detected cases at the national level are projected to be on a continuous uptrend, with an estimated 19,306 cases reported daily by August 31,” DOH said in a statement Tuesday.

The department, however, noted this may still be lowered to about 6,194 to 8,346 cases with improved vaccination rates and compliance to minimum health standards.

OCTA Research group has warned that the COVID-19 wave in Metro Manila may be far from its endgame as indicators like growth rate and reproduction number remain steady.

The pandemic watchdog warned about areas that have “very high” positivity rates of over 20%.

DOH also noted that while the number of COVID-1 9 cases are considered in determining alert levels, there is still larger focus on admission and hospital utilization rates.

“With the advances in COVID-19 treatment and the availability of vaccines to combat severe and critical disease, as well as deaths, we now have the capability to reduce the vulnerable population and keep hospital utilization and fatalities to a minimum,” it said.

The department continued to remind the public to follow minimum public health standards like wearing of face masks and ensuring good airflow, get vaccinated, and isolate and inform close contacts when sick to control the spread of the virus.

Metro Manila is under Alert Level 1 until the end of July.

Latest government data showed there are over 3.755 million COVID-19 cases in the country, with more than 27,000 currently ill patients. Meanwhile, over 71 million Filipinos have completed their primary COVID-19 shots, while more than 15 million have received an additional shot.

SOURCE: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/7/26/DOH-COVID-19-cases-projection.html