The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday attributed the decline in new Covid-19 cases in the country to the decreasing number of samples being submitted to laboratories.
Health Undersecretary Maria Vergeire said the issue was with the number of samples being submitted and not with the laboratories, which are now able to submit data regularly.
“Well, hindi po sa pag su-submit ng laboratory ngayon ang problema natin or issue dito po sa pag tala ng mas mababang kaso for the past week. It’s about the samples that are received by the laboratories,” she said in a news briefing.
From 374,000 samples tested from April 23 to 29, the number declined to 342,000 from April 30 to May 6, or a decline of 9 percent, Vergeire said.
The number of individual testing also saw a 10 percent decrease.
Vergeire said the DOH was studying whether the decrease was due to the declining number of individuals that need to be tested or due to individuals not being tested.
“Pag tinignan po natin in the whole, kailangan po nating maanalyze maigi if this really, pagbababa ng sample sa pag-submit, is because mababa na po ang nakikita natin (na) mga dapat i-test sa ating mga communities or hindi lang po talaga na te-test yung iba do’n sa ating komunidad,” she added.
As of May 8, the DOH has reported 63,376 active cases, 1,013,204 recoveries, and 18,269 deaths. The total number of cases stood at 1,094,849. Charlene Grace Lao