The number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has started to lessen and might be on its way to flattening the curve, according to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque
Duque said the Philippines might have “several more days to see if the plateau will now reflect a beginning downtrend.”
He also looks forward to this plateau as the so-called “doubling time” has risen to 14 days.
As of April 5, Duque pointed out that the 3,000 cases only doubled 14 days after on April 19, instead of the expected April 9.
“This is proof that doubling time has in fact been prolonged, which is good,” he added, “The next few days might help us get a more complete picture.”
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a separate online press conference also added, “Ang ating turnaround time ay mayroon pa rin tayong gap so hindi pa rin siya real-time (Our turn-around time [for data] has a gap so it is not yet real-time).”
Still based on observation of available data, the doubling time of cases has softened from a three-day to a five-day trend.
“Experts said if we can attain a 30-day case doubling time or more, we can say that we are really into that direction of flattening the curve,” Vergeire disclosed.
She concluded, “But it’s still a long way to go–but at least this is good news for all of us.” (Jojo Mangahis)