“Naku, sa ikalawang beses lang po ‘no mukhang hindi po nagkaroon ng katuparan ang naging forecast ng UP-OCTA research team, ito po ay dahil sabi nila sa buwan ng Agosto ay magkakaroon tayo ng 250,000 cases ng COVID. Hindi po natin naabot ang 250,000 – 220,000 po ang naging kaso ng COVID, more or less,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his briefing on September 1, 2020.
[Oh, for the second time, it seems that the UP-OCTA research team forecast did not come true, because they said we will have 250,000 COVID-19 cases this August. We did not reach 250,000 – we only have 220,000 COVID-19 cases, more or less.]
Roque credited the feat of staying below 250,000 to following minimum health standards of wearing face masks, washing hands, following social distancing, and also now wearing face shields in commercial areas, public spaces and in workplaces.
However, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 258,416 individuals have already tested positive as of August 30, in the Philippine Situationer Report published late night of August 31.
DOH reported 224,264 total cases as of September 1, with 3,483 confirmed cases added on this day.
There is a difference of 34,152 between DOH-confirmed cases and those who have tested positive.
Aside from ‘beating’ the UP prediction for the second time, Roque said the incubation period has been lengthened to 14 days as the effect of the two weeks of modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), from the surge of cases in the month of July.
He also said that decrease in COVID-19 cases were also observed from 2,301 COVID-19 cases from August 2 to 8, which was the first week of MECQ in Metro Manila. The number decreased to 1,987 cases from August 23 to 29, or one week after MECQ was lifted. MECQ in Metro Manila, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite and Bulacan were lifted on August 18.
In President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) aired late night of August 31, the new quarantine protocols were announced. Iligan City was placed under MECQ from September 1 to 30, while Metro Manila, Bulacan, Batangas, Tacloban City and Bacolod City were placed in general community quarantine during the same period. All other areas are under modified general community quarantine.
