The Philippines is now classified as a low-risk area for COVID-19 after the national case growth rate and average daily attack rate (ADAR) decreased, the Department of Health said Thursday.
“Because we have a negative two-week growth rate and we see that our ADAR is at moderate risk at 5.42, the risk classification nationally is already at low risk,” DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman said in an online forum.
De Guzman said DOH data showed that the Philippines’ case growth rate fell to negative 9 percent during June 13 to 26 from 15 percent from May 30 to June 12.
The national utilization rates of hospital and intensive care unit beds were also in the safe zone at 46.51 percent and 55.24 percent, respectively.
The country averaged 5,772 new cases daily from June 24 to 30, which is only slightly higher than its average of 5,638 daily new infections from June 17 to 23.
The DOH flagged four regions as high-risk areas over their high ADAR and health care utilization rate, even as national COVID-19 figures have improved.
De Guzman said cases are plateauing in NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal), slowly declining in Mindanao, and slightly increasing in the rest of Luzon and the Visayas.
She said, however, that the decline in cases is “thin” or “very slow,” especially in Metro Manila.
“Now the challenge is while we open up our economy, we have these safeguards,” De Guzman said.
“If we maintain our efforts now… the decline in cases will continue and may even accelerate.”
De Guzman urged local governments to ensure they are ready to handle any surge that the Delta variant of the coronavirus might bring.
The country has detected 17 cases of the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant so far, all of them from Filipinos returning from abroad.
Laguna province is the only area still classified as high-risk for COVID-19 in NCR Plus, the DOH said.
De Guzman said cases in Laguna grew by 6 percent during June 13 to 26 while its average daily attack rate (ADAR) was high at 8.24 cases per 100,000 population.
Laguna’s hospital bed occupancy rate was in the safe zone at 59.09 percent as of June 29 but its intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization rate was in the moderate risk category at 66.67 percent.
“Laguna is a big area, so we need to identify… more specific reasons why it can’t sustain the decrease in cases,” De Guzman said.
“This is the only area in NCR Plus where we are still seeing an increase in cases,” she added.
De Guzman said in some areas outside NCR Plus, the public’s adherence to COVID-19 protocols has waned over time after the government eased lockdown levels.
“One major factor is the lax compliance or adherence to minimum health standards — that is wearing of a face mask and a face shield and observing physical distancing,” she said.
The DOH considers Caraga, Western Visayas, Davao Region and Soccsksargen as areas “high-risk” for COVID-19 spread.
Indoor gatherings and other social events also drove up COVID-19 infections in some regions, De Guzman added.
“Maintaining physical distancing and ensuring adequate ventilation in these settings are hard to maintain,” De Guzman said.
The Philippines logged 5,795 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total cases to 1,418,337.
The DOH reported 135 new fatalities for a total death toll of 24,797.
The DOH also reported 2,859 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 1,341,973.
Active cases rose to 51,567, of which 91 percent were mild, 3.8 percent were asymptomatic, 1.5 percent were critical, 2.1 percent were severe, and 1.56 percent were moderate.
Meanwhile, Ninoy Aquino International Airport district collector Carmelita Talusan on Thursday assured the public there will be no delay in the Customs processing of COVID-19 vaccines.
“The Bureau of Customs will continue to increase its efforts in monitoring and ensuring the smooth flow of COVID-19 vaccine (shipments) and all other essential goods in support of the government’s social protection program,” said Talusan.
To date, Customs NAIA facilitated and cleared 28 shipments or more than 17.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which arrived in the country between February and June.
Of the total cleared shipments of vaccines, 12 million are Sinovac brand, 2.556 million are AstraZeneca, 2.478 million are Pfizer, 249,600 are Moderna, and 180,000 are Sputnik V from China, United Kingdom, United States, and Russia.
Since the start of the pandemic, the agency also cleared 15,937 shipments of face masks, face shields, test kits, and various medical equipment.
