Philippines remains at low risk as 88% of provinces show increase in COVID cases

The Philippines remains at low risk for COVID-19 even as 88% of provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities showed continuous increase in COVID-19 cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

According to the DOH, the country’s weekly positivity rate has climbed to 6%, surpassing the 5% benchmark of the World Health Organization, while the positivity rate of the National Capital Region was recorded at 8.2%

Meanwhile, the DOH said Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Western Visayas also recorded positivity rates of greater than or equal to 5.

The positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested.

“Most areas show a sharp increase in cases with NCR reaching almost 450 cases daily. Mindanao showed a slight uptick mid-June 2022 but currently shows signs of plateau with 50 cases per day,” the DOH said in a statement.

The DOH also said NCR and other regions remain at low risk case classification with less than 1 per 100,000 average daily attack rate despite the increase in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, total bed utilization and ICU utilization rates also remain at low risk at 19% and 15%, respectively.

According to the DOH, 10.62% of total COVID-19 admissions make up severe and critical cases.

The DOH also flagged 89 areas outside NCR that showed an increase in cases, of which 57 showed a positive one-week and two-week growth rate.

“Thirty-two remaining areas have either positive one-week growth rate or two-week growth rate; Lucena City, Bohol, and Tawi-Tawi at moderate to critical risk healthcare utilization,” it said.—AOL, GMA News