Covid-19 spike by end of September feared

The projected 9,000 Covid-19 cases daily by the end of September to October is possible due to the spread of BA.5 subvariant, an infectious disease expert warned Monday.

“I fully agree with that because we can see that with this BA.5, cases are decreasing slowly. So there is also a possibility it will increase again,” Dr. Rontegene Solante said in the Laging Handa public briefing.

“Especially with the increase in mobility and different forms of gatherings. We already know that this BA.5 can still infect those even if you are fully vaccinated,” Solante added.

Last week, the Department of Health warned the public of another spike in Covid-19 cases by the end of September to October should the minimum public health standards continue to decrease.

Solante said that this could be prevented by getting the first booster shot or second booster shot against Covid-19.

“I hope it will not happen because it was just a projection, and we could still prevent it by allowing ourselves to get the first booster for the eligible population and the second booster to be given to protect against severe infection,” he said.

If the cases will increase, there is also a possibility that hospital admissions may increase, according to the health expert.

“There’s always a possibility that hospital admissions will also increase and among those that will be admitted are the high risk or the vulnerable population,” he added.

In a related development, the Health department reported 19,262 infections from 22 to 26 August, which is 19 percent lower compared to cases reported a week before.

More than 100 or 0.62 percent of this new batch of weekly cases were tagged as severe or critical.

Meanwhile, the country’s Covid-19 death toll jumped to 61,667 after the DoH reported another 316 deaths, of which 94 deaths were reported in the recent two weeks.

Of the 2,551 intensive care unit beds, 635 or 24.9 percent were occupied, while 5,986 non-ICU beds are in use.

The severe and critical admissions due to Covid-related illness now stand at 807, which is 10.5 percent of total Covid-19 admissions.

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