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A molecular biologist who is also a priest said the recent COVID-19 surge is so far the "longest surge" experienced in the Philippines.

"It is tragic that I know so many more people who have died in this most recent surge than in the previous waves, the previous surges that we encountered. I think one of the reasons is though the numbers are high, it’s also been extended. So it’s been the longest surge so far," Father Nicolas Austriaco said in a Malacanang press briefing Tuesday.

Despite the high number of fatalities recorded during the recent wave, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the death toll due to COVID-19 is still smaller compared to other countries.

"Our death toll is too small compared to worldwide trends. So it says that although many were getting infected we were able to decrease the number of fatalities. If we are going to compare it worldwide we have fewer deaths. It means our frontliners have taken good care of their patients," he said.

Austriaco said a ''downturn'' in the number of cases was observed in the last three days.

"We are seeing a downturn in the numbers. If you look at our world in data, it’s clear that the surge in the Philippines has peaked. For the last three days we’ve had a negative growth rate in the NCR suggesting that the NCR also has peaked," he said.

Austriaco said Filipinos should still be very careful as the situation is "always reversible".

"All of these are always reversible and we have to be very careful as we move into the granular lockdown mode, that we do not reverse the gains we have made in the last few weeks," he said. Robina Asido/DMS