Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francis Duque III in a Senate hearing on the government’s COVID-19 response said the Philippines is now at the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

This was in response to Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s question on what the government’s plan would be once the second wave of infections arrive in the country. Duque claims that the first wave occurred in January when the country had its first three cases and is now actually at its second wave. He did not clarify exactly when the alleged second wave began and its determinants.

According to the World Health Organization’s guideline for pandemics, a second wave occurs after the increase in outbreak infections in the “initially affected countries have stopped or reversed.” It is also expected to occur within three to nine months of the initial wave.

“Nung nagkaroon po tayo ng tatlong kaso ng mga Chinese nationals from Wuhan. ’Yun po ay kinikilalang first wave. Maliit lang na wave,” Duque said. “Pero ngayon nasa second wave tayo at ginagawa po natin ang lahat para nga ma-flatten yung epidemic curve.”

Duque cited epidemiologist John Wong of local research facility Epimetrics Inc., who explained that the country experienced a small wave in January, while the second wave peaked around the end of March when the country saw 538 additional cases. He added that we are now at the lower part of the second wave with average cases at 220 per day.

For the past week, there have been over 200 new cases per day with 279 new cases today, May 20. As of writing, the total number of cases is at 13,221 with 842 deaths and 2,932 casualties.

Header photo courtesy of Senate of the Philippines

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