MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeiri reports an average of only three COVID-19 death in September during a press briefing on Tuesday, September 20.
The current data is lower than the 17 fatalities per day in August. However, Vergeire clarifies that the data may still show 200 confirmed deaths per day due to delayed reporting since “deaths are still being validated on the ground.”
“Our case fatality up until now is still 1.6 percent. Hindi po iyan tumaas ng 2 percent, tayo po ay naki-keep natin at that minimum, ‘yung ating mga namamatay dito sa ating bansa,” Vergeire said.
(It never went over 2 percent, we are able to keep the deaths in our country at that minimum.)
She also mentions the increase of cases in August since various sectors have reopened and more people are going out.
“Nakita natin talaga after the middle of August, third week of August, tumaas na ‘yung mobility patterns dito sa Metro Manila and even in the other regions,” she said.
(We really saw after the middle of August, third week of August, the mobility patterns were higher in Metro Manila and even in the other regions.)
IATF to reconvene
Meanwhile, Vergeire announced that the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will reconvene soon to discuss the directives of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
She said that the IATF would create a technical working group to study the border restrictions of the country.
“Titingnan natin kung base sa safety protocols natin ay puwede nating ma-ease those restrictions,” she said. “Maybe we will give them another two weeks, and then, we can reconvene”.
(We’ll see if based on our safety protocols, we can ease those retrictions.)
As of September 18, almost 72.9 million Filipinos have been vaccinated. Of the total number, only 18.9 million have received their first booster dose, and almost 2.7 million have received their second booster shot. – WhatALife!
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