THE Department of Health yesterday said an average of more than 3,000 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) daily cases have been recorded nationwide over the past seven days.
In a virtual press briefing, Heath deputy spokesperson Dr. Beverly Ho said the number of infections climbed to an average of 3,047 cases per day this week, which is 32 percent higher compared to last week and is comparable to the level of cases during the last week of February this year.
The DOH has earlier projected that the daily cases by the end of July might reach the 3,000-mark.
The health department said the National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest contribution in the overall daily total with an average of 1,100 cases.
Despite the hike, Ho said Metro Manila is still at “moderate” risk classification based on its average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 7.25 cases per 100,000 population.
She, however, stressed that the 35.48 percent healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) of NCR is still at “low” risk classification.
Other than Metro Manila, the health official said that, nationally, the country is still at low-risk case classification with an average daily attack rate of 2.43 cases per 100,000 population.
Similarly, the country’s overall health system capacity also remains at low-risk utilization.
The DOH has said that the country’s alert level system will be indicated solely by the ADAR and HCUR following the removal of the two-week case growth rate as among the indicators used by the government.
Amid the rise in cases, the independent OCTA Research said the current number of COVID-19 infections can still be considered as under-reported due to the low number of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing being done.
In a social media post, OCTA fellow Guido David said: “More people are using antigen tests.
The number of cases is under-reported.”
He cited as an example the testing numbers in Metro Manila, wherein testing was as high as 400 per day per 100,000 population, last January.
“Currently, testing has not risen above baseline levels of 100 (per day per 100,000),” said David.
OMICRON CASES
Also yesterday, the DOH reported that more than 900 additional cases of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariants have been detected in the Philippines.
Ho said 890 additional BA.5 cases, 18 additional BA.4 cases, and 15 additional BA.2.12.1 cases were detected from the latest genome sequencing results.
“At the moment, the exposure of individuals, travel histories, and health status are being verified,” she said.
Records show that the additional BA.5 cases were detected in all regions, except Soccsksargen and Bangsamoro, and nine returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Of the number, 650 individuals are fully vaccinated, 18 partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining 222 are still being verified.
The DOH said 823 individuals are now tagged as recovered, 31 are still undergoing isolation, while the outcome of the 36 others are being verified.
Overall, there are already 1,997 detected BA.5 subvariant cases in the country.
Among the additional BA.4 cases, seven individuals are from Metro Manila, six from Bicol Region, two from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and one each from Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Calabarzon.
Thirteen of the individuals are fully vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining five are still being verified.
A total of 17 individuals are now tagged as recovered while the remaining case is still undergoing isolation.
In all, there are already 71 cases of the BA.4 subvariant detected in the Philippines.
As for the additional BA.2.12.1 cases, there were five individuals from Metro Manila, four from CAR, three from Calabarzon, one each from Ilocos Region and Mimaropa, and one ROF.
Eight of these individuals are fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining 6 are still being verified.
The 14 individuals are now tagged as recovered while the remaining case is still undergoing isolation.
Overall, there are now 154 cases of the BA.2.12.1 subvariant in the country.
