THE Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases in one day, at 539 (PH15050-PH15588), but officials attributed the spike to several factors, notably the extended validation periods. This meant it was not the result of a one-day surge in community transmission.
The new reported confirmed cases bring the total of people infected by the virus in the country to 15,588.
During the DOH televised press conference, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the National Capital Region has the most number of new cases with 330, Region 7 with 55 new cases, 99 new cases from different regions and 55 new cases for repatriates.
As of 4 p. m. of May 28, the DOH also announced that 92 new recoveries and 17 new deaths have been reported. This brings the total number of recoveries to 3,598, and deaths to 921.
Prior to the release of the confirmed cases on Thursday afternoon, Vergeire explained to health reporters that the number of confirmed cases varies on the validation process.
Vergerie explained that on May 27, the number of confirmed cases rising to 380 may have something to do with the validation process.
“There are days that the validation process is smooth, no problems on the data were encountered. That is why we have an increase in the number of confirmed cases reported on that day,” she said in mixed Filipino and English, referring to the May 27 data of confirmed cases.
In March, she said that the timeline of the process of their validation was 2.99 days; in april it was 2.8 days and in March, 3.15 days.
She clarified that the backlog has nothing to do with the spike of the cases recorded, for it is the term used in the process being done in the laboratories.
“The ideal time is 48 to 72 hours from the day we received the sample and the [day] the result has been released,” she said adding that beyond the given time is already considered as “backlog”.
Vergeire also expressed optimism that they may be able to clear the backlogs on Thursday – at around 3,600.
“And tomorrow [May29], we can start fresh with our laboratories,” she said.
She said the laboratories in Bicol, University of the Philippines-National Institutes for Health and Lung Center of the Philippines were already back in operation on Monday (May 25) after they shut down last week.
She also noted that there was almost a 40-percent reduction of the backlogs on May 25.
Factors
In a statement, the DOH also pointed out a number of factors that have contributed to the increase in daily reported cases just like the spike of 539 cases in one day on Thursday.
The recent rollout of the COVIDKAYA information system has greatly sped up the verification process for confirmed cases.
The cases that were reported over the last few days reflect tests that were conducted the days and weeks prior. The reporting lag is due to delays in submission of results by laboratories and the manual verification process to ensure that each case is a unique individual.
“We are coordinating with laboratories across the country to validate the data more quickly, and we will provide updates as soon as we are confident that we have an accurate picture of the situation.
We expect the numbers to continue to rise over the coming days as we continue catching up with the backlog in validation and as we conduct more tests nationwide,” the DOH statement read.
It added that the DOH have already instructed all health facilities, including all hospitals and laboratories, and local epidemiology and surveillance units to use COVIDKAYA system.
“Only then will we be able to get real time data of confirmed cases. We intend to include these as part of licensing requirements in the coming week,” the statement added.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
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