COVID-19 positivity rates up in NCR, some provinces

MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 positivity rates in Metro Manila and several other provinces increased during the last seven days, the OCTA Research group reported yesterday.

The province of Kalinga showed the highest notable rate increase from only 20.8 percent in Dec. 3 to as high as 57.9 percent as of Dec. 10.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David said the positivity rate in Metro Manila slightly increased from 12.4 percent to 14.4 percent during the same week.

“Positivity rates increased in Batangas, Bulacan, Cagayan, Cavite, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal,” he said.

The positivity rate in Batangas went from 5.2 percent to 9.2 percent, Bulacan from 6.8 percent to 8.3 percent, Cagayan from 21.4 percent to 26.3 percent, and Cavite from 10.5 percent to 12.8 percent.

Mountain Province went from 11 percent to 16.7 percent, Nueva Ecija from 39.1 percent to 49 percent, Pampanga from 10.6 percent to 13.3 percent, Quezon from 10.8 percent to 12.8 percent, and Rizal from 19.7 percent to 23 percent.

There are also areas where positivity rates went down including Bataan from 11.2 percent to 8.7 percent, Laguna from 19.2 percent to 16.7 percent, and Ilocos Norte from 11.1 percent to 10.3 percent.

OCTA Research, an independent research organization, has been monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic since it started more than two years ago.

8,292 new COVID cases

More than 8,000 additional COVID-19 cases were recorded in the country for the past week, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

The latest COVID-19 Bulletin issued by the DOH showed there were 8,292 new cases logged from Dec. 5 to Dec. 11.

The DOH also said the daily average number of new COVID-19 infections is 1,185. This is seven percent higher than the cases recorded from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4.

Meanwhile, there were six new patients in severe and critical condition, while 156 deaths from COVID-19 were verified – 34 of these occurred from Nov. 28 to Dec. 11.

Last Sunday, the health department recorded 650 severe and critical COVID-19 patients who sought admission in hospitals. This is 10.6 percent of total COVID-19 admissions in the country.

Out of the 2,435 ICU beds intended for COVID-19 patients, 546 (22.4 percent) were occupied while 24.0 percent or 4,758 out of 19,824 non-ICU COVID-19 beds, are being used.

The DOH also reported that as of Dec. 11, more than 73 million individuals or 94.38 percent of the target population have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Included here are the additional 83,448 individuals who were vaccinated from Dec. 5 to 11.

Meanwhile, more than 21 million individuals have received their booster shots. These included the 100,376 individuals boosted the same week.

The DOH likewise said that 6.9 million senior citizens or 79.41 percent of the target A2 population were able to receive their primary vaccine series.

The health department is encouraging the public to continuously observe the minimum public health standards under Alert Level 1.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that even though the optional masking policy is now in effect, the public especially the elderly, those with comorbidities, and immune compromised are highly encouraged to still wear face masks.

The DOH also encouraged the public to get vaccinated and boosted for additional protection. – Rhodina Villanueva