DOH: COVID-19 cases going down in Calabarzon, Davao City

The number of COVID-19 cases in Region 4A (Calabarzon) and Davao City has been going down in the last two weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.

DOH issued the statement after experts from OCTA Research said Calabarzon and Davao City were among the epicenters of COVID-19 pandemic alongside the National Capital Region.

The Health department said that it would flag areas for priority attention based on increases in their two-week growth rate and average daily attack rate which signify increased disease transmission.

Critical care utilization, which indicates  the health system capacity to accommodate a surge in cases, is also a factor.

“If we base on absolute numbers, Calabarzon would be among top regions as to most number of total and newly reported cases, as expected given that it is among the largest regions in terms of population," the DOH said in a statement.

"However, our data showed that its newly reported cases are continuously declining the past month: by 9% in the recent two weeks and by 4% in the previous three to four weeks,” it added.

“While Davao City has reported an increase in cases three to four weeks ago, their number of new cases in recent two weeks have decreased by 13%,” the DOH said.

The DOH also did not favor the use of the word epicenter.

“We do not use terms such as 'epicenter' in public health because it does not have a standardized definition,” the DOH said.

The Philippines has recorded 434,357 COVID-19 cases so far. Of this number, 399,005 recovered while 8,436 died.

The number of active COVID-19 cases is at 26,916. -NB, GMA News