The Department of Health (DOH) has reported that some areas, including the National Capital Region (NCR), have exhibited a slowdown or downtrend in active coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the average daily case of 19,709 last week showed a 5-percent decrease compared to the previous weeks.

“Bagama’t umaasa tayo na ito na ang simula ng pagbaba ng ating mga kaso, oobserbahan pa rin natin sa darating na mga linggo kung talagang bumababa na ang mga kaso (While we are hoping that this would be the start of the reduction in our cases, we will still observe it in the coming weeks if the cases are really decreasing),” Duque reported during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People aired on Monday night.

Secretary Vince Dizon, deputy chief of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 and testing czar, attributed the downward trend to the expedited vaccination program.

“I think all the data from the experts point to the fact that it is really the vaccination program, especially in key cities where the vaccination rate is already very high, that is saving us from the Delta variant,” he said.

Dizon emphasized that the high vaccination rates are “really protecting” infected people from getting severe symptoms of the disease.

“Therefore, they do not require the kind of hospital care that was previously required whenever someone gets Covid without the vaccine. That is really the main driver,” he said.

As of September 20, about 67.54 percent of the NCR’s target population are fully vaccinated, while 84.6 percent have received the first dose.

The NTF said the vaccination drive would be ramped up in other regions and provinces while intensifying the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate strategy. (PNA)