OCTA: Philippine COVID-19 growth rate down to -14%

The one-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines declined to -14% from the -2% the previous week, OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said on Tuesday.

In a message to GMA News Online, David said that the -2% weekly growth rate was recorded from August 9 to August 15, while the -14% rate was from August 16 to August 22.

David added that OCTA Research had been monitoring a continued decrease in COVID-19 cases in the country recently.

“Nakikita natin na patuloy na bumababa ang bilang ng kaso sa buong bansa. In fact, meron tayong negative growth rate sa buong Pilipinas, nasa -14%,” he said in a public briefing.

(We see that the number of cases continues to decrease across the country. In fact, we have a negative growth rate in the whole Philippines at -14%.)

He also noted that the country’s reproduction number was now less than one at 0.97, as of August 19.

This was a decrease from the 1.07 reproduction number logged on August 12.

Reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case. A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.

The Philippines on Monday reported 3,077 new coronavirus cases, bringing the active caseload to 33,774.

The Department of Health (DOH) said that the country’s bed occupancy rate remained at low risk at 28.9%. It meant that 8,345 of the 28,839 beds nationwide were occupied while 20,494 were vacant.

NCR

Meanwhile, in the NCR, David said that the COVID-19 growth rate was at -12%, while its reproduction number was at 1.04.

The region’s healthcare utilization rate was “stable” at 37%, he added. The NCR’s intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy was at 31%.

“Medyo significant pa rin ang level ng cases kaya kailangan patuloy pa rin ang pagi-ingat natin. Pero karamihan ng mga lugar sa Pilipinas, katulad ng NCR, bumababa na,” said David.

(The level of COVID-19 cases is still significant so we must continue to be careful. But cases in most areas in the Philippines, like the NCR, are declining.)

David said that the decreasing COVID-19 key indicators could be attributed to the country’s vaccination and booster programs.

At least 72.3 million Filipinos or 92.59% of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the DOH said on Monday.

Meanwhile, some 17.4 million individuals have also received their booster shots. — DVM, GMA News