The Philippines may end the year with about 480,000 cases of COVID-19 infections based on the current trajectory, hitting the lower end of earlier projections, the OCTA Research Team said on Friday.
An earlier monitoring report from the group pegged cases to reach 470,000 to 500,000, but current trends show the lower end is more likely, said Dr. Guido David.
“If the situation worsens a little bit, we might get closer to 500,000. But right now, that is not the case,” he said on ANC’s Headstart.
David said latest data show that the number of cases is decreasing, with fewer than 2,000 new infections reported everyday nationwide and only about 400 in Metro Manila. However, he said there are indicators that “an uptick might already be starting.
Marcos: Plan for post-yuletide spike
Senator Imee Marcos on Friday called on the government to prepare for a possible spike in COVID-19 cases after Christmas, even as community quarantines remain in place.
Marcos said the public’s “quarantine fatigue” amid muted festivity this Christmas could swell infection rates that remained “significantly high” at the end of November, particularly in Metro Manila, Batangas, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Tacloban City, Iligan City, and Lanao del Sur.
“Let’s already settle what contact-tracing system should be put in place, contingency measures in hospitals if critical levels are reached, [and] coping mechanisms that can be devolved to local government units,” Marcos said.
No change in GCQ seen
The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said there will be no adjustment of the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila unless there is a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in an interview on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo, rejected rumors that the government would impose a stricter COVID-19 lockdown before Christmas.
However, he said a tighter lockdown could still happen if there is a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The government branded as a hoax text messages that said another lockdown will be imposed from Dec. 23 this year to Jan. 3 next year.
Seafarers to China need 2 tests
All Filipino seafarers bound for China are required to take not only one but two coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) tests before they will be allowed to enter the host country, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said on Friday.
In an advisory, the agency said aside from a nucleic acid test for COVID-19, Filipino sea-based workers entering China are now required to take a COVID-19 IgM antibody test as an additional requirement in compliance with stricter protocols amid the pandemic.
“Starting early November 2020, all Filipino seafarers entering China from Philippine ports are required to take both nucleic acid tests and IgM antibody tests for Covid-19 within 48 hours before boarding the vessels,” the agency said.