THREE regions in the country saw increases in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases over the past two weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) said as it affirmed the uptick in the National Capital Region NCR.
In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire cases in Mimaropa, Bicol Region, and Eastern Visayas have been rising during the past two weeks.
Vergeire said the regions seeing growth in cases would have been six had the Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Visayas sustained their increase in numbers.
“There were three more regions that had one week growth rates,” said Vergeire.
Aside from the six regions, the health official noted that Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, and Makati also recorded two-week growth rates.
“From minimal risk classification, there are five areas that shifted to low-risk classification,” said Vergeire.
On Sunday, the independent OCTA Research reported a seven percent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
Vergeire said the increases are not yet a cause for concern because the increase in cases range only from 2 to 30 infections.
“It is still not considered as significant because it does not translate to increased average daily attack rate (ADAR). It does not translate, most importantly, to increase in admissions in hospitals,” explained Vergeire.
Add to this, she said, is the continued decline in cases nationwide.
Vergeire said the overall numbers are even lower as compared to those during the pre-Omicron variant surge.
“Cases are even 23 percent lower compared to the lowest numbers recorded before we had the Omicron surge,” she said.
Asked to which the slight increase in cases can be attributed to, she said it is part of “living with the virus.”
“Transmission is still here. We will never get to zero cases. We are here to live with the virus,” said Vergeire.
DAILY CASES
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported daily over the past seven days is now at the 200 mark, the DOH said yesterday.
Based on its COVID-19 Case Bulletin, there was an average of 200 daily cases for the period of April 25 to May 1.
“This is lower by 5 percent than cases reported from April 18 to 24,” said the DOH.
In total, the last seven days recorded a total of 1,399 COVID-19 cases.
There was no additional severe and critical case but there were 215 deaths over the past seven days.
The seven-day average in new COVID-19 cases in the NCR increased from 79 (as of April 17 to 23) to 85 (as of April 24 to 30).
Meanwhile, the DOH reported that there are currently 723 severe and critical cases in the country, as of May 1.
Of the total severe and critical cases, the report showed that 456 of them are occupying ICU beds.
The number of occupied ICU beds account for 16.1 percent of the 2,830 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 3,998 patients that are occupying COVID-19 beds, which is 16.3 percent of the 24,521 total beds allocated nationwide.
OMICRON SUBVARIANT
Vergeire said all close contacts of the 52-year-old Finnish female who is the first case of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12 in the Philippines remain without any signs and symptoms of COVID-19.
“As of today, no one is experiencing symptoms among all of the closed contacts of the Finnish female,” said Vergeire, adding: “All of them are asymptomatic as of this time.”
The health official said that among the 30 close contacts in the flight to Manila, 25 were found to be fully vaccinated while three tested negative of the virus.
On the other hand, she said two of the 14 close contacts in Benguet and Quezon City tested negative while the others did not require testing under existing protocols.
Last week, the DOH reported the detection of the BA.2.12 Omicron subvariant from a foreign traveler, who tested positive for COVID-19.
The patient has since recovered, was discharged, and has returned to her home country on April 21.
According to Vergeire, the threat of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12 in the Philippines is still low despite the detection of the first case.
“The risk remains low because of the people’s adherence to the minimum public health standards and high vaccination coverage,” said Vergeire.
