THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said the number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reported daily over the past seven days dropped by 12 percent as the independent group OCTA Research said positivity rates in seven areas in the country remained “very high.”
Based on the health department’s COVID-19 case bulletin, there was an average of 1,143 cases daily, or a total of 8,004 infections, from November 14 to 20,
“This is 12 percent lower than cases reported from November 7 to 13,” said the DOH, pointing out that last week’s average daily cases stood at 1,296.
The DOH said there were two additional severe and critical cases during the past week and 93 deaths.
There are currently 568 severe and critical cases in the country, as of November 20, of which 493 are occupying ICU beds or 20.9 percent of the 2,358 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 4,796 patients occupying 25% of the total 20,754 beds allocated for COVID-19 patients nationwide.
The OCTA group said that with just over a month before Christmas Day, 16 areas in the country continue to have “high” to “very high” COVID-19 positivity rates.
The seven areas that have very high rates are Isabela (49.4%), Tarlac (37.7%), Camarines Sur (35.2%), Aklan (34.9%), Benguet (24.7%), Misamis Oriental (20.9%), and La Union (20.7%).
Of these areas, Camarines Sur, Isabela, La Union, and Tarlac increased from a week ago, while Aklan, Benguet, and Misamis Oriental went down.
On the other hand, nine have high rates, and these are Cavite (15.8%), Negros Occidental (15.4%), Rizal (14.7%), Cagayan (14.4%), Laguna (13.8%), Pangasinan (13.2%), Bataan (13%), Cebu (11.5%), and Pampanga (10.6%).
On the rise compared to the previous week are Cagayan, Cavite, Negros Occidental, and Rizal, while seeing a decrease are Bataan, Cebu, Laguna, Pangasinan, and Pampanga.
Meanwhile, seven areas have registered “moderate” positivity rates, namely Iloilo (7.7%), National Capital Region (7.6%), South Cotabato (7.2%), Zambales (6.9%), Davao del Sur (5.8%), Bulacan (5.6%), and Batangas (5.1%).
Metro Manila was the only one that increased from the past week, while Batangas, Bulacan, Davao del Sur, Iloilo, South Cotabato, and Zambales have dropped.
The World Health Organization has set a threshold of 5 percent for positivity rate for COVID-19.
OCTA fellow Guido David have earlier said they expect COVID-19 cases to be less than 500 per day for the entire country by the end of November based on the current trend.
