Pangasinan's COVID-19 cases rise but province remains at low risk — OCTA

Independent monitoring group OCTA Research on Wednesday said it observed a spike in COVID-19 infections in the province of Pangasinan.

In a tweet, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the seven-day average of new cases in  Pangasinan increased from 36 on September 6 to 69 on September 13, with a one-week growth rate of 92%.

David said the province earlier recorded a one-week growth rate of 8%.

The positivity rate in the province increased to 10.9% on September 12 from 6.9% on September 10, he added.

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

David also said the COVID-19 reproduction number in the province climbed to 1.40 as of September 10 from 1.10 on September 3.

The 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.

However, the province's average daily attack rate (ADAR) is 2.18 per 100,000 population, which is considered "low," David said.

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

Meanwhile, Guido stated that the province's healthcare utilization for COVID-19 and ICU occupancy remained at 30% and 17%, respectively.

“Pangasinan remained at low risk but the rise in cases must be monitored,” he added.

The Department of Health on Tuesday logged 1,574 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide caseload to 3,909,772.

This was the third straight day of fewer than 3,000 reported cases. —VBL, GMA News