Nasa “first major wave” pa lang daw ng sustained transmission ng coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ang Pilipinas.
Ito ang pahayag ni Health Sec. Francisco Duque III sa pagharap niya, at ibang DOH officials sa virtual meeting na ipinatawag ng House Committee on Health.
“Indeed there was a first wave but very small which consisted of just three imported cases in January,” ani Duque.
Ayon sa kalihim, ang pahayag na kanyang binitiwan sa Senate hearing nitong Miyerkules tungkol sa first at second wave ay batay sa mga epidemiologic fact.
Kung titingnan daw kasi ang depinisyon ng “wave,” tinutukoy nito ang pagtaas at pagbaba ng mga kaso.
“We had nothing for February, and then this was followed by a bigger wave which is now what we consider the first major wave of sustained community transmission.”
“Either way, it can be easily construed that where we are today is the first major wave of sustained transmission.”
Sinag-ayunan naman ito ng epidemiologist at miyembro ng Inter-Agency Task Force sub-Technical Working Group na si Dr. John Wong.
“What we expect with this virus, because it’s a new virus and very few people have immunity to it, is that we are going to have a series of waves until we get to a vaccine or a treatment.”
“As long as people can continue to practice the mitigation measures and we can maintain it, we can postpone or delay another wave.”
