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Metro Manila could record 4,000 coronavirus cases per day if people would not observe the minimum health standards such as wearing face mask and face shield, maintaining physical distancing, and frequent hand washing, experts warned on Thursday, December 17.
In a virtual press briefing on Thursday morning, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that should this happen, the country’s healthcare systems would be overwhelmed.
She warned that there may be a 80% utilization of hospital beds by the end of January “if we do not act aggressively to halt transmission now.”
“Initial projections from FASSSTER and Octa teams confirm the likelihood of the surge during and after the holidays if without intervention,” Vergeire said a week before Christmas Day, when families get together to celebrate.
FASSSTER is a disease surveillance tool developed by the Ateneo de Manila University, while Octa Research Group is composed of a variety of experts and professors from the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas.
In the same briefing, Vergeire said that while there’s no surge yet, they are already seeing a rise in cases in different parts of the country as Christmas neared. The Department of Health is anticipating a surge in cases after the holidays, even as the government has repeatedly appealed to the public not to hold Christmas parties to prevent COVID-19 transmission. (READ: DOH says hospital occupancy rate still ‘low-risk’ but prepares for case surge)
Experts have observed that COVID-19 is spreading faster in virus epicenter Metro Manila as Christmas neared.
As of Thursday, the Philippines has 454,447 cases of COVID-19, with 8,850 deaths and 419,902 recoveries. Of the total, 25,695 are active cases. – Rappler.com
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