Nine out of 17 cities in NCR have COVID-19 Delta variant cases

Several cities in Metro Manila have recorded at least one case of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

“Nine out of the 17 cities in NCR are with Delta variant as of August 1,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a Palace briefing.

These cities are the following:

• Malabon (4 cases)
• Makati (3 cases)
• San Juan (2 cases)
• Las Piñas (14 cases)
• Valenzuela (1 case)
• Pasig (6 cases)
• Mandaluyong (2 cases)
• Manila (12 cases)
• Caloocan (4 cases)

Vergeire said the capital region averaged 1,535 new cases per day from July 27 to August 2, “65% higher” than the week before.

Pateros and Malabon were classified as critical-risk areas due to their high moving two-week case growth rate and moving average daily attack rate (ADAR).

All other cities in Metro Manila were classified as high-risk due to their high ADAR, except for Marikina and Caloocan.

The intensive care unit (ICU) utilization rate was highest in Las Piñas at 86%, followed by Muntinlupa at 72% and Quezon City at 71%.

The ICU occupancy rate was in the moderate- to low-risk zone in all other cities.

Metro Manila was again classified as a high-risk area for COVID-19, the DOH said.

Vergeire said “the impact of the Delta variant is now observed nationally” with half of provinces and cities already seeing an increase in cases and healthcare utilization.

DOH data also showed that cases in Metro Manila grew by 85% in the last two weeks while the region logged a high average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 8.96 cases per 100,000 population.

Despite this, Metro Manila’s healthcare utilization rate remained in the safe zone at 46.52% along with the intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rate at 54.82%.

Other areas flagged as high risk by the DOH due to their high ADAR and two-week case growth rate were Central Visayas, Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera region, and Northern Mindanao.

The Philippines’ two-week case growth rate also rose to 29% during July 20 to August 2 from -7% during July 6 to 19.

“Given ongoing Delta VOC (variant of concern) transmission, we need to immediately address observed case increases, closely monitor healthcare utilization, and consider implementing higher community quarantine [status],” Vergeire said.

The DOH urged all localities to increase the capacity of their healthcare system even if their utilization rate has remained low.

Metro Manila is set to go into a strict lockdown from August 6 to 20 to stem the transmission of the Delta variant.

Meanwhile, data from the National Vaccination Operations Center as of August 1 showed that 48.55% or 4.7 million out of more than 9.6 million adults in Metro Manila have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

A total of 3,471,666 individuals in the capital region have been fully vaccinated. —NB/BAP/KG, GMA News