FOR the fifth day in a row, the Department of Health (DOH) reported more than 5,000 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases and over 100 deaths in a day.
The uptrend in new cases is evident in the seven-day moving average, which exceeded 6,000 again in the week from May 24 to 30 after breaching this barrier in mid-May and declining to about 5,300 a week ago from May 17 to 23.
On Sunday, May 30, DOH confirmed 7,058 new cases. Although lower than the 8,748 on May 28 and the 7,443 on May 29, this was the highest daily tally in 18 days from May 10 to 27.
The new infections pushed the total Covid-19 case count to 1,223,627 as of May 20. Thirteen duplicates, including eight recoveries and one death, were removed from the total count.
The DOH case bulletin also listed 132 deaths, exceeding 100 for the fifth straight day. These raised the Covid-19 death toll to 20,860, with the case fatality rate steady at 1.7 percent.
Of the 132 additional deaths confirmed Sunday, 80 were previously tagged as recoveries but were validated to be mortalities.
There were 6,852 new recoveries, bringing the total to 1,149,010, or 93.9 percent of the total case count.
With new infections exceeding recoveries, the number of active cases climbed to 53,757 on Sunday. These still comprised 4.4 percent of the total case count.
The positivity rate remained elevated at 13.2 percent and testing output decreased to 44,928 on May 28. Four laboratories were unable to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.
Trend
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the cases nationwide had started to plateau, but increased again beginning May 28.
“To better understand our national case trend, let's take a look at the regional data. For NCR Plus areas, the numbers continue to go down but the rate of decline is slower in recent weeks,” she said.
However, some regions in Luzon that had posted negative two-week growth rates (TWGR) are again showing trend reversal to positive TWGR.
In Visayas, Vergeire said all regions showed a gradual increase in cases.
In Mindanao, she said all regions showed a sustained growth in cases, with Northern Mindanao, Davao and Caraga posting faster rates of increase this week compared to the previous week.
“DOH will continue to work with local government units (LGUs) to ensure PDITR (prevent, detect, isolate, treat and reintegrate) implementation is improved, particularly shortening the period of case detection to isolation,” Vergeire said.
“We remind everyone to continue practicing the MPHS (minimum public health standards) and getting vaccinated when it's their turn to curb transmission of Covid-19,” she added.
MPHS refers to proper wearing of face masks and face shields in public, physical distancing and frequent handwashing.
Based on the DOH tracker, the National Capital Region (NCR) still had the highest number of new cases at 14,716 in the last 14 days to May 29, but these were lower compared to the 16,198 a week ago on May 22 and the 20,828 on May 15.
Calabarzon and Central Luzon also posted declines in their two-week running total to 12,174 and 9,322, respectively, on May 29 from 12,751 and 9,016, respectively, on May 22.
Western Visayas, which had the fourth highest 14-day running total among the regions, posted an increase to 5,323 on May 29 from 4,535 on May 22.
Cagayan Valley surpassed Zamboanga Peninsula to take the fifth spot, with 3,807 new cases in the last 14 days.
Among the cities and provinces, Cavite Province dislodged Quezon City from the top spot although its two-week running caseload decreased to 3,629 on May 29 from 3,801 on May 22.
The case count in Quezon City, the most populous city in the country with around 3.0 million residents, decreased to 3,501 from 3,841 for the period.
Other provinces also posted declines. Laguna had 3,207 new cases in the last two weeks, followed by Bulacan with 2,617 and Batangas with 2,226. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)