The Department of Health on Friday said more cases of non-Covid diseases are being reported compared to last year when the virus that emerged from Wuhan, China posed serious challenges to healthcare workers.
“In general, more cases are being reported under the surveillance of non-Covid diseases when compared to last year,” said Dr. Althea de Guzman, the Health department’s Epidemiology Bureau Director.
De Guzman was referring to the recent increase in the number of cases of non-Covid diseases such as waterborne and foodborne illnesses, influenza-like illnesses, leptospirosis, and dengue.
“This may be attributed to more active disease surveillance activities and the expected increased risk of transmission due to increased mobility,” she said.
The remarks came at a time when both foreign and local health experts are setting the tone that Covid-19 is nearing its endemic stage.
“The DoH will continue to observe the situation locally and internationally, and wait on our global health partners such as the World Health Organization to declare that the state of public health emergency is over,” the agency said in a statement.
The United States this week, however, extended its own public health emergency declaration.
The DoH also encouraged Filipinos to continue protecting themselves against the severe form of Covid-19 by following health protocols and by getting vaccinated.
Based on the latest case bulletin, the country reported a total of 2,883 fresh Covid-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 3,975,884.
The new cases brought the country’s active cases to 25,293.
The National Capital Region remained the top region with the highest cases in the recent two weeks with 11,325, followed by Calabarzon with 5,429 and Central Luzon with 2,890.
Meanwhile, the total number of recovered patients with Covid-19 climbed to 3,887,188 with 1,743 new recoveries.
A total of 40 new fatalities were recorded increasing the death toll to 63,403, according to the DoH.