The OCTA Research Team on Wednesday said the increase in Covid-19 cases in some parts of the country was minimal and might not be indicative of an impending surge.
“Totoo na may tumataas na cases, pero iyong pagtaas ng cases na ito is at a very low level pa sila sa ngayon,” OCTA fellow Guido David said in a “Laging Handa” briefing.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said 14 areas under Alert Level 1 had been seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases.
The health chief did not enumerate the 14 areas.
David said the rise in cases was more of “statistical noise” than surge indicators.
“Sa ngayon, ito ang nakikita natin: kunwari, may area na tumaas iyong cases niya from one to two , kapag titingnan natin iyong percentage increase, malaki e, 100-percent […] pero at that level, sobrang mababa at hindi pa natin ma-distinguish between statistical noise and iyong actions, pagtaas ng cases,” David said.
“Pero kung patuloy na tumataas sa two weeks, three weeks tapos malaki ang itinataas niya talaga, then we start to become concerned and iyan ay iri-report natin talaga,” he added.
Experts have warned of a possible surge in cases in the coming weeks due to social gatherings during religious and elections-related activities, which could be Covid-19 “superspreaders.”
According to the Department of Health’s latest bulletin, the country has 19,923 active Covid-19 cases. John Ezekiel J. Hirro