MANILA, Philippines — The nationwide COVID-19 positivity rate dropped to 5.5 percent on Sunday, OCTA Research said.
OCTA fellow Guido David tweeted there was a decrease in positivity rate, or the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested, on Sunday night after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 467 new COVID-19 cases with 12,376 active cases.
OCTA expected 350 to 450 new cases yesterday.
David said that the country’s positivity rate went down two notches from 5.9 percent on Jan. 6 to 5.7 percent the following day.
The National Capital Region (NCR) had the highest number of cases with 183 as of Sunday, while provinces with most cases include Rizal (25), Cavite (22), Laguna (18) and Bulacan (15).
3,127 new cases
Meanwhile, there were 3,127 COVID-19 cases recorded in the country from Jan. 2 to 8, the DOH said in its latest COVID-19 Bulletin issued yesterday.
The DOH also said the daily average number of new COVID-19 infections is 447, or 9 percent lower than the cases recorded from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.
There were seven new patients in severe and critical condition, while 79 deaths from COVID-19 were verified – 17 of these occurred from Dec. 26 to Jan. 8.
Particularly, on Jan. 8, the DOH recorded 507 severe and critical COVID-19 patients who sought admission in hospitals, 9.3 percent of the total COVID-19 admissions in the country.
Of the 2,379 ICU beds intended for COVID-19 patients, 431 (18.1 percent) were occupied while 21.6 percent or 4,185 out of 19,373 non-ICU COVID-19 beds, are being used.
The DOH also reported that as of Jan. 1, more than 73 million individuals or 94.48 percent of the target population have been vaccinated against COVID-19, including the additional 15,848 individuals who were vaccinated from Jan. 2 to 8.
Meanwhile, more than 21 million individuals have received their booster shots, including 24,698 individuals boosted the same week.
The DOH likewise said that 6.9 million senior citizens or 79.46 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, as well as get vaccinated and boosted for additional protection.
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 the immune compromised are highly encouraged to still wear best-fitted face masks. – Rhodina Villanueva