OCTA: COVID-19 cases in Iloilo on downward trend

The new COVID-19 infections in the province of Iloilo and Iloilo City are now declining based on their reproduction number and case growth rate in the recent week, independent monitoring group OCTA Research said on Thursday.

In a tweet, OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said that Iloilo City’s reproduction number or the number of people infected by one case, went down from 1.05 on July 31 to 0.92 on August 7.

The city also recorded a -18% one-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases.

Its average daily attack rate as of August 10 was also at 9.94 per 100,000 population.

ADAR pertains to the incidence showing the average number of new cases in a period per 100,000 people.

Iloilo City (and Iloilo) on a downward trend in new Covid cases. The Rt in Iloilo City decreased to 0.92 from 1.05 and the one week growth rate was -18%. The positivity rate also decreased from 16.1% to 14.7%. Let's hope the trend continues. #COVID19 @dzbb @DZAR1026 @allangatus pic.twitter.com/YENMDOUd6Y

— Dr. Guido David (@iamguidodavid) August 11, 2022

Meanwhile, David said Iloilo province’s reproduction number also decreased from 1.06 to 0.96 over the same period, while its one-week growth rate was at -11%.

Iloilo’s positivity rate also declined from 16.1% on August 6 to 14.7% on August 9.

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

Moreover, the healthcare utilization rate in Iloilo City was at 46% on August 9, while the entire province posted a 50.7%.

With this, David said OCTA is expecting the COVID-19 wave in Iloilo to subside by end-September.

“Iloilo and the NCR were among the first regions in the Philippines to have an increase in Covid infections in the current wave (due to Omicron sub variants BA.5, BA.4, BA.2.12.1),” he said.

“[H]opefully, the other provinces will see a downward trend very soon,” he added.

The Philippines on Wednesday registered 3,181 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the active caseload to 36,035.—AOL, GMA News