The Philippine Department of Health (DoH) said Saturday that the Philippines remains as a low-risk country for COVID-19.
The DoH said the country has an average daily attack rate of 2.52 cases per 100,000 population and a bed and intensive care unit (ICU) utilization rate of less than 29 percent and 24 percent respectively.
“Even with the observed increase in cases, it is more important that our bed and ICU utilization rates stay low — meaning our hospitals stay open and not overwhelmed,” the DoH said.
RELATED STORY: EU now recognizes COVID-19 vaccine certificates from Philippines
Experts have however advised that the government should not be complacent with the low hospital utilization rate.
The DoH acknowledged there is still a need to improve vaccination and booster coverage to help prevent severe and critical cases.
In Philippines’ the active COVID-19 cases on Saturday breached 33,000, as it logged 3,996 cases. This brought the confirmed cases to 3,772,468 with the health authorities attributing the slight rise in new COVID-19 cases to the population’s waning immunity and the presence of omicron subvariants.
