MANILA, Philippines — There were no sustained increases in COVID-19 infections in the country following election-related activities, OCTA Research said Monday.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David told public broadcaster People’s Television that there were small spikes in COVID-19 cases, which eventually ceased.
“Wala pa tayong nakikitang increase in cases doon sa mga campaign rallies, sorties. February pa tayo nagkaroon ng campaigns, wala pa namang nagkakaroon ng pagtaas ng kaso na talagang sustained,” David said.
(We have yet to see an increase in cases due to campaign rallies and sorties. Campaigns started in February, but there were no sustained rises in cases.)
“So far, wala pa naman tayong nakitang indication na may clustering of cases dahil sa recent election natin so mino-monitor pa natin in case na magkaroon ng pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso,” he added.
(We have yet to see any indications of clustering of cases due to the recent elections. So we’re still monitoring in case we experience a rise in infections.)
The Department of Health earlier said it will take around two weeks to see the effects of poll-related activities on the country’s COVID-19 situation.
The OCTA Research fellow also reported that the positivity rate, reproduction number, and hospital utilization in the country remained low.
Metro Manila will stay under Alert Level 1—the most relaxed alert level—from May 16 to 31.
Last week, the health department reported the detection of the BA.2.12.1 Omicron subvariant in Metro Manila and Palawan. According to the agency, there is no evidence suggesting that the subvariant causes more severe disease.
The Philippines has reported more than 3.6 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 60,455 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico