NCR’s daily new Covid-19 cases down to 700; DOH tags 4 regions as ‘high risk’
MANILA – The National Capital Region’s (NCR) average daily number of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases over the past seven days continued to decrease to 700.The OCTA Research Group said its latest monitoring report showed the figure accounts for a 15-percent decrease for the period June 15 to 21 compared to the previous week.
“This corresponds to an ADAR (average daily attack rate) of 5.07 per 100,000. An ADAR less than 5 per 100,000 is considered moderate-low,” OCTA said.
The NCR’s reproduction number over the same period was 0.73.
Its positivity rate was 7 percent with 35 percent hospital bed occupancy, 42 percent intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy, and 31 percent mechanical ventilator occupancy – all within safe levels.
Among the local government units in the NCR, Navotas had the lowest average number of cases at three, and the lowest ADAR at 1.28.
“This means it is close to being classified as a low-risk area – ADAR of less than one per 100,000,” OCTA said.
Outside the NCR, the areas of concern include Davao City, Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Tacloban City.
“There were some welcome news as new cases had a decrease in some noted hotspots such as Bacolod, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, and Butuan,” OCTA said.
A high hospital bed occupancy rate (HBUR) of greater than 70 percent was observed in Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, Tuguegarao, Dasmariñas, Butuan, Tacloban, Roxas City, and Polomolok. Polomolok’s HBUR at 91 percent was considered at a critical level.
Intensive care unit utilization rate of above 85 percent was observed in Davao City, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Tagum, Cotabato City, San Pablo, Koronadal, Batangas City, and Santa Rosa – all at a critical level.
“A sharp increase in new cases, possibly due to some clusters of cases, was observed in Calumpit, Bulacan, which had an almost 200 percent increase from the previous week, Cotabato City, Tagum, Cebu City and Tacloban,” OCTA said.
“Very high attack rates were observed in Dumaguete, Tuguegarao, Polomolok, Tacloban and Calumpit,” it added.
Meanwhile, the country’s number of Covid-19 cases decreased by 8 percent to an average of 6,027 per day for the period of June 15 to 21 from a daily average of 6,578 for the week of June 8 to 14.
The reproduction number nationwide over the same period was 0.95.
______________
MANILA – Four regions in the Visayas and Mindanao are currently tagged as “high risk” for COVID-19 in terms of their case data and trends.
“These are Caraga, Regions 6 (Western Visayas), 11 (Davao) and 12 (Soccsksargen),” said Department of Health chief epidemiologist Alethea de Guzman said in an online media forum.
An area is considered high risk if its average daily attack rate or ADAR, defined as the number of infected people per 100,000 population, reaches above seven. Officials earlier said the higher the ADAR in a place, the higher a person’s risk of getting the infectious disease there.
Meanwhile, the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, and Bicol are under “moderate risk” status, De Guzman said.
The remaining regions, including Metro Manila, are now at “low risk” for COVID-19, she added.
De Guzman also flagged several areas for having high COVID-19 bed occupancy rates as of June 21.
Around 70% to nearly 85% of ICU beds in Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, and Soccsksargen were occupied as of June 21, she reported.
De Guzman said 33 cities and provinces were experiencing “continuous case increase as well as high to critical risk healthcare utilization rates and ICU utilization rates.”
