The Duterte administration will not let its guard down, even if it is “on track” to stop the further transmission of Covid-19 in the country, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque gave the assurance, as he maintained that the Covid-19 infections logged in the country is still “within projection.”
“We are on track, but we are not saying that we have to be complacent. We won’t be [complacent],” Roque said in a virtual press conference.
Roque said the daily Covid-19 case count in the country is still below the FASSSTER’s projected 25,000 coronavirus cases per day.
FASSSTER is a web-based disease surveillance platform that uses deterministic compartmental modeling. It is funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.
Roque said stricter quarantine measures have helped control the further spread of Covid-19.
He added that the surge in Covid-19 infections is expected because of the presence of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.
“We are still there [within our projection], we are still on track. We expect that, given the 60-percent increased transmissibility of the Delta variant,” Roque said partly in Filipino.
He also noted that the active Covid-19 cases in the country would have reached 525,000 by September 5, had the government failed to implement the more stringent quarantine measures against the coronavirus.
“If you see the entirety of FASSSTER’s projection, there’s a possibility that we would have around 525,000 active cases by end of September, had we not ordered the temporary closure of the economy,” he added in Filipino.
Roque, however, acknowledged that the continuing rise in Covid-19 infections still needs to be addressed.
He urged the public to continue observing the health protocols to keep them safe from Covid-19.
“The number is still high, so it’s not enough that our countrymen are vaccinated. So we still have to wear mask, wash hands, avoid crowd, and get vaccinated,” Roque said in Filipino.
On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte raised the possibility that there might be a policy shift by imposing “localized lockdowns” nationwide instead of city-wide and province-wide community quarantine to step up the fight against Covid-19 and its variants.
Roque said the government is already studying the possible recalibration of the Covid-19 response efforts.
As of Wednesday, the country reported an additional 14,216 Covid-19 cases, bringing the total case count to 2,003,955.
The country recorded 1,892,473 recoveries, 33,533 fatalities, and 140,949 active cases.
