The Department of Health (DOH) said the public should not expect to see an immediate decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases following the start of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and some neighboring provinces.
Coinciding with the first day of the stricter quarantine restriction on the so-called “NCR Plus,” the highest number of new COVID-19 cases was recorded in one day, at more than 10,000.
According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the numbers could rise further by the end of the ECQ on April 4th.
“We won’t even see any changes in our numbers. We might see more numbers after this one week because what we are seeing right now are the numbers 2 weeks prior to this week,” said Vergeire.
“We are still going to see an accumulation of these numbers for the next 2 weeks,” the DOH official said.
With active cases of the disease hitting over 124,000, many remained asymptomatic and mild.
But about 1,600 are experiencing severe or critical COVID-19, based on data from the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.
Although all age groups had severe and critical COVID-19, the majority were still aged 60 and over.
DOH: Don’t expect immediate decrease in COVID-19 cases
The DOH first said that the elderly have a low chance of getting COVID-19 because they are always at home.
But once they are infected with the virus, the chances of their condition becoming severe or critical are much higher.
The OCTA Research Group warned that hospitals could take several more weeks to fill up.
“It will be full for a while. Hindi ‘yan bababa agad-agad ‘yong numbers eh. We could have this situation for maybe 2 or 3 more weeks na ‘yong mga ospital ay puno,” said Guido David of OCTA.
So far, from 2.05, the reproduction number has dropped to 1.86 in the National Capital Region after conducting the “NCR Plus Bubble.”
David also thinks that a lower number of cases may be recorded in the coming days but this does not reflect the real situation.
“Hindi ibig sabihin na pababa na tayo kasi mababa talaga ang every Tuesdays and Wednesdays then Thursday tataas ulit. Then there’s another consideration, dahil holiday, baka maraming testing centers magko-close during this Holy Week,” said David.