The Department of Health accepted the University of the Philippines’ (UP) 100,000 COVID-19 cases projection by the end of August, noting the figures should be interpreted with “caution.”
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press conference Wednesday said there are still other factors that could affect the scientific models used to project new cases.
“Lagi namin pinapaliwanag kapag estimates katulad ng sa UP (University of the Philippines), tinatanggap namin ‘yan,” she said.
(We always explain that we are accepting estimates like that of UP.)
“That serves something that we can refer to kapag nag-a-analyze kami pero kailangan nating i-interpret with caution kapag estimates,” she added.
(That serves something that we can refer to when we do the analysis, but we should interpret it with caution.)
“So ‘yang 95,000 o 100,000 na nga ngayon ay ginawa nila base sa ganyang kalkulasyon at pinakikinggan natin sila,” Vergeire said.
(The 95,000 or 100,000 was projected based on the calculation, and we are listening to them.)
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Vergeire urged the public to do their part in preventing the spread of the virus in the country.
“So tayo, kasi nakikita at naibigay sa akin ‘yung impormasyon na iyan, ay pinaiigting natin ang impormasyon sa ating kababayan ngayon na sana ginagawa natin ‘yung dapat nating gawin for us to not to be able to reach that 100,000 by end of August na estimated by the UP group,” she said.
(We have seen and received that information, and we are strengthening information to our countrymen. I hope we are doing what we need to do for us not to be able to reach that 100,000 by the end of August na estimated by the UP group.)
Professors from the University of the Philippines earlier said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country could reach up to 100,000 by the end of August.
Professor Guido David from the UP Institute of Mathematics said the actual number of infections could still exceed their 100k projection.
Professor Ranjit Rye from the UP Department of Political Science also said Professor Ranjit Rye from the UP Department of Political Science.
As of July 8, the country recorded a total of 50,359 cases, 1,314 deaths, and 12,588 recoveries.