Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said 80 percent of the 111 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country have mild symptoms.
“Mataas ang chance to recover nung 80 percent, iyan ang obserbasyon natin sa mga bansang nauna nang nagkaron ng Covid-19 infection. Tapos iyong 15 percent ay moderate to severe, at ‘yung 3 to 5 percent ay critical, so, ang ating tututukan dito ay ‘yung mga (The 80 percent has big chance to recover, that’s what we’ve observed in the countries which were first to have Covid-19 infection. The 15 percent are moderate to severe, and the remaining three to five percent are critical, so, we need to focus on the) severe and critical,” Duque said in a radio interview.
Duque explained that the recovery period may take two to three weeks for patients with mild symptoms.
On the other hand, patients with severe to critical symptoms may take three to six weeks to recover, he added.
“Sa mga naka-recover, may self-monitoring tayo, sila na ang magmo-monitor mismo sa mga sarili nila (We have self-monitoring for those who were able to recover from the infection, they will be the ones to monitor themselves),” Duque said.
Duque said an individual infected with coronavirus can pass on the disease to an average of three persons.
“Kung may 111 tayo ngayon, maaari biglang umabot ng 333 (If we have 111 [cases] now, the number may jump to 333),” he added.
Duque also confirmed that everyone in Metro Manila are considered persons under monitoring since Code Red Sublevel 2 is raised over the area.
“Tinitingnan bawat tao dahil siyempre may community transmission tayo ngayon,” he said.
He advised individuals with mild sickness to do home quarantine since hospitals cannot handle all cases.
“Kaya mayroon na lamang monitoring at pakikipag-ugnayan sa ating local government units at city health offices para magabayan sila kung lumala ang kanilang karamdaman (So, we just have monitoring and coordination with local government units at city health offices to avoid worsening of their symptoms),” he said.
He reminded the public to maintain proper hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing, and to be prudent in the use of facial or surgical masks to contain coronavirus.
“Unang-una kailangan unawain natin na mayroon tayong global shortage sa supply chain ng mga masks, pagbigyan natin ang mga health care workers natin (Firstly, we need to understand that there is a global shortage in the supply of chain masks, let’s give way for our health workers),” he said. (PNA)
