DOH: 11 NCR areas under COVID-19 Alert Level 4

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said 11 areas in Metro Manila have been placed under the highest alert level for COVID-19 due to rising infections and hospital bed utilization.

These areas are Las Piñas, Malabon, Makati, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan, Pateros, Quezon City, Taguig, and Valenzuela.

“The National Capital Region maintains positive two-week growth rate and a high-risk average daily attack rate (ADAR) and is currently at high-risk case classification,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.

Alert Level 4 means an area has been classified as moderate- to critical-risk and has a healthcare utilization rate higher than 70%.

NCR is under enhanced community quarantine -- the strictest among quarantine classification -- for two weeks, or from August 6 to 20. Under ECQ, only essential trips and services are allowed.

The government placed NCR under ECQ in light of the threat posed by the Delta coronavirus variant.

Meanwhile, other areas under Alert Level 4 are:

• Cordillera Administrative Region: Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet
• Region 1: Dagupan City, Ilocos Norte
• Region 2: Cagayan, Quirino
• Region 3: Angeles City, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Olongapo City, Zambales
• Region 4A: Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Lucena City, Rizal
• Region 5: Naga City, Masbate
• Region 6: Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Iloilo, Iloilo City
• Region 7: Bohol, Cebu, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Siquijor
• Region 8: Ormoc City, Tacloban City
• Region 10: Bukidnon, Cagayan De Oro City, Camiguin, Lanao Del Norte, Misamis Oriental
• Region 12: Cotabato (North Cotabato), General Santos City, South Cotabato
• Caraga: Agusan del Sur

Vergeire said the country averaged 10,459 new cases per day from August 6 to 12, a jump from its average of 7,987 in the week before, with “a new peak [in infections] set weekly.”

The Philippines is still classified as a high-risk area for COVID-19 after logging a two-week case growth rate of 60%, ADAR of 8.37 cases per 100,000 population, a healthcare utilization rate of 58.81%, and an ICU occupancy rate of 68.08%.

The country has tallied over 1.7 million cases with 1.58 million recoveries and 29,539 deaths as of Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said earlier in the day that it is still too early to discuss whether or not the ECQ in the NCR will be extended.

Interviewed on Unang Balita, Duque stressed the need for the public to observe minimum health standards after daily new COVID-19 cases reach over 12,000 for two consecutive days.

He also called on local government units in the NCR to intensify their vaccination campaign in order to reach herd immunity at the soonest possible time.

Duque chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF, the government's policy-making body in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. — DVM/KBK, GMA News