NCR lockdown areas drop to 6

MANILA, Philippines — Areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) under granular lockdown due to COVID-19 cases dropped by more than half in the past week, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

In its latest report, the PNP said only six areas, all in Manila, were locked down compared to 14 recorded in the previous week.

Seven individuals are affected by the lockdown. They are being secured by 12 police officers and 12 force multipliers.

The PNP said 582 areas nationwide are under granular lockdown, affecting 731 households or 1,141 individuals.

The Cordilleras logged the most areas under lockdown with 380 followed by the Cordilleras, 116, and Cagayan Valley, 76.

The other four locked-down areas are located in Mimaropa.

Meanwhile, 195,739 have been apprehended across the country for violating COVID-19 protocols since Feb. 1. Of the number, 30,512 were from the NCR.

OCTA: 5 LGUs now ‘low risk’

Five local government units in the NCR may now be considered as “low risk” for COVID-19, a member of the OCTA Research Group said yesterday.

OCTA fellow Guido David said they now classify Caloocan, Pateros, Navotas, Taguig and Marikina as “low risk” after further improvements in their respective COVID-19 indicators, including average daily attack rate (ADAR) and positivity rate.

ADAR refers to the number of daily new cases per 100,000 people, while positivity rate is the average number of positive results out of the total tests conducted.

OCTA uses risk classification metrics based on covidactnow.org, which are different from those used by the national government.

Citing data from the Department of Health, David said Caloocan had the lowest ADAR among the five at a “moderate” 4.07, followed by Pateros with 7.23, Navotas with 7.76, Taguig with 8.71 and Marikina with 9.20.

All five cities have a “moderate” 9.6 percent positivity rate.

They also have “very low” reproduction numbers of less than 0.5 and “very low” health care utilization of less than 20 percent.

David said all other cities in the NCR, as well as the entire region, are classified as “moderate risk” for COVID-19.

In a separate report, the OCTA fellow said NCR recorded an average of 1,264 cases per day from Feb. 1 to 7, down 54 percent from 2,772 in the preceding week.

The region’s ADAR also dropped from a “high” 19.58 to a “moderate” 8.93, while positivity rate dropped from a “high” 13.4 percent to a “moderate” 9.6 percent.

Health care utilization is still at a “low” 32 percent, from 38 percent in the preceding week.

“At this rate of decrease, if the trends continue, the NCR could have less than 200 new cases per day by the end of February. In the meantime, the public is advised to continue observing health protocols,” David said. – Janvic Mateo