THE national government reported that the average daily cases were at 3,521 during the past week, which may mean a continued decline of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Department of Health (DOH) Spokesperson and Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said during a briefing that majority of the regions in the country are now classified as low-risk.
Regions 6, 11, 12, and the Cordillera Administrative Region, however, remain at moderate risk.
She said the national healthcare systems capacity is also at low risk except for Region 11. The intensive care utilization rate in the region remains at 63.9 percent, which is at moderate risk.
Vergeire said they are also looking at a further decrease of daily COVID-19 cases to below 100 as early as March 15. This is possible if the public will strictly adhere to health and safety protocols.
Vergeire said the numbers could reach as low as 83 from the 2,000 to over 3,000 daily cases if the FASSSTER (Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases) projections are to be followed.
She said the forecast was based on the current known characteristics of the Omicron variant..
Other factors like mobility, vaccination coverage and compliance with protocols were also considered in making the projection.
“If compliance to the minimum public health standards go down by 12 percent, the cases would remain high at 2,077,” Vergeire said.
The figures, she added, could even go high to 7,748 cases per day if compliance drops to 19 percent.
At present, 61.6 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and another 61.2 million people have yet to get their second dose. On the other hand, 9,161,128 Filipinos have already received their booster shot as of yesterday, February 14.
For children under the 5-11 year-old category, 148,000 have already received their first dose.