CORONAVIRUS disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines continue to rise and are now averaging almost 500 per day, according to the latest case bulletin of the Department of Health (DOH).
The DOH said it recorded an average of 450 cases daily for the period of April 17 to 23, or 3,148 infections during the last seven days.
This is 32 percent higher than cases reported from April 10 to 16, which averaged at 341 cases per day.
The department reported five deaths and 14 additional severe and critical cases during the past week.
The DOH said there are currently 345 severe and critical cases in the country, as of April 23, of which 275 are occupying ICU beds. This is 13.7 percent of the 2,010 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 2,980 patients occupying COVID-19 beds, or 17.4 percent of the 17,152 COVID-19 beds allocated nationwide.
The positivity rate for the disease has also risen in the National Capital Region and other areas.
Meanwhile, the DOH said 26 areas in the country have been placed under Alert Level 2 by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) due to low COVID vaccination coverage.
“While these areas have reached low risk classifications for cases and utilization rates, these have vaccination rates lower than 70 percent of the target total population, and/or 70 percent of the total A2 population (senior citizens),” said the DOH in a statement on Sunday night.
“Meeting these (vaccination) targets will allow these areas to be de-escalated to Alert Level 1,” it added.
Placed under Alert Level 2 are the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Quezon, Palawan, Camarines Norte, Masbate, Antique, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Western Samar, Lanao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, North Cotabato, Saranggani, Sultan Kudarat, Dinagat Islands, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi.
The latest alert level classification covers the period of April 15 to 30.
The DOH also said that the 26 provinces classified under Alert Level 2 were not escalated from Alert Level 1.
“These have maintained their Alert Level 2 status since June 2022,” stressed the DOH.
Because of this, the health department said it is continuously working with the local government units of the identified provinces in a bid to increase their COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
“The DOH continues to encourage those that are still unvaccinated, unboosted, or under-boosted to get the vaccines as soon as possible while it is still free of charge, especially for senior citizens,” said the DOH.
DOH data shows that as March 20, there are already 78.4 million fully vaccinated individuals nationwide.
The Supreme Court said courts and judicial offices in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2 would “remain physically open” with 50 to 70 percent of their work force reporting for duty.
The circular issued by Court Administrator Raul Villanueva said judges who are without court space or facilities of their own but have their own court personnel should maintain a skeletal work force of at least 30 percent.
No Saturday duty is allowed, and night courts are not allowed to operate in stations where these have been organized or required, the circular added.
“If the IATF places a particular province under Alert Level 2 but identifies certain cities or municipalities therein under Alert Level 1 or places an area under a conflicting alert level system with a more restrictive health protocol, such classification will not in any way affect the observance of the required court operation guidelines,” the circular said.
However, judges are allowed until April 30 to conduct fully remote videoconferencing hearings for at most three times a week, regardless of their location in the country, with notice to the Office of the Court Administrator.
Meanwhile, court personnel who are not scheduled to report to the court shall be considered under a work-from-home arrangement.
“Most importantly, those required to work-from-home during the subject period must ensure that their lines of communications are always open,’ it added. — With Ashzel Hachero
