MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila may reach up to 4,600 a day by the middle of July if people’s mobility continues to increase and if the compliance with public health safeguards is further reduced, the Department of Health said Tuesday.
In an interview with TeleRadyo, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Metro Manila may log 3,800 to 4,600 COVID-19 cases a day by mid-July.
The agency earlier classified the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Quezon and San Juan, and the municipality of Pateros as moderate risk for COVID-19 spread.
Citing the projection of the Australian Tuberculosis Modeling Network (AuTuMN), Vergeire told reporters in a message that there might be 3,800 to 5,300 COVID-19 daily cases nationally by mid-July.
The projection was based on assumptions that included increased mobility, reduced adherence to minimum public health standards, and low uptake of boosters.
Vergeire said that compliance with public health safeguards has decreased by 21% amid a renewed spike in COVID-19 infections.
From June 20 to 26, the DOH tallied 4,634 new cases, or 662 infections per day. This was 53% higher that the number of infections reported from June 14 to 19.
Despite the increase, the healthcare utilization rate remains low.
“We are seeing that the number of severe and critical cases are not significantly increasing. Admissions are still manageable with less than 20% of the healthcare utilization rate,” Vergeire said.
More than 70.35 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, only 14.94 million have gotten booster shots.