MANILA - The Department of Health is "prepared for the worst case scenario" after Metro Manila and 38 other areas deescalated to the lowest alert level, its chief said Wednesday.

The agency observed that the healthcare system managed "during the worst of surges" brought by the delta variant, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.

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"We are prepared for the worst-case scenario. Before we decided to deescalate we made an analysis of the capacity of the healthcare system of the country, regionally and locally," he told ANC's Headstart.

"What we have observed during the worst of the surges, the delta, ang taas ng ating healthcare utilization and pumutok din ang ating ICU bed utilization rate. 'Yung severe and critical cases were extraordinarily high but we managed it. That was the litmus test."

(What we have observed during the worst of the surges, the delta, we had high healthcare utilization and ICU bed utilization rate. Severe and critical cases were extraordinarily high but we managed it.)

• READ: 'Full capacity everywhere': Manila hospitals struggle as virus surges

Government has a transition plan into the new normal which will be "finished hopefully mid-next week," Duque said.

"This is something we’ll launch after all inputs from different sectors have been submitted.," he said.

"The virus is here to stay and we’ll have to learn to live with it. The question is will there be no surges in the future, no we cannot say that. There can still be surges but are we ready to manage."

Duque again touted the country's low number of deaths when asked for comment on the Philippines' ranking in the Bloomberg COVID resilience study, which climbed to 50th from 53rd.

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"Di ko pa nakikita because I've been very busy with de-escalation. 'Yung ating COVID-19 metrics, ngayon nga tayo na ang may pinakabamababa ang active cases among ASEAN countries," he said.

(I haven't seen it because I've been very busy with de-escalation. Our COVID-19 metrics, our active cases is the lowest among ASEAN countries.)

"Ang ating case fatality rate low at 1.54 percent, even lower for omicron, omicron deaths are less than 1 percent... The economic metrics 'yun naman tinitingnan natin. I will have to look at where Bloomberg is coming from."

(Our case fatality rate is low at 1.54 percent, even lower for omicron, omicron deaths are less than 1 percent... The economic metrics we'll have to look at.)

The Philippine economy posted a faster-than-expected 5.6 percent growth rate in 2021 as looser COVID-19 restrictions toward yearend propelled recovery, with GDP growing 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the state statistics bureau earlier said.

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