DOH: 53% jump from last week’s record
THE number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country reported daily over the past seven days has risen to over 600, based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) weekly case bulletin.
The DOH report showed there was an average of 662 cases daily for the period of June 20 to 26, which is 53 percent higher than the number of cases reported from June 13 to 19.
In total, the last seven days recorded a total of 4,634 COVID-19 cases.
There were 14 additional severe and critical case during the past week, while 51 deaths were reported.
The bulletin also showed there are 591 severe and critical cases in the country as of June 26, of which 391 are occupying ICU beds.
The number of occupied ICU beds account for the 14.9 percent of the 2,628 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 4,034 COVID-19 patients that are occupying COVID-19 beds, or 18.1 percent of the 22,251 total beds allocated nationwide.
In a related development, numbers from the independent OCTA Research showed that the positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in other provinces continue to increase.
Positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who test positive for COVID-19 out of the total number of tested individuals.
In Metro Manila, the positivity rate is at 5.9 percent as of June 25, compared to only 3.9 percent as of June 18.
On the other hand, the OCTA said the positivity rate in the province of Rizal is already at “high” risk classification after it went up to 11.9 percent as of June 25, from 6.3 percent as of June 18.
The World Health Organization has set the ideal positivity rate at less than 5 percent.
OCTA said Metro Manila and seven other provinces are at “moderate” risk classification.
Data shows that the positivity rates are 7.5 percent in Laguna (from 3.1%), 7.4 percent in South Cotabato (from 6.3%), 6 percent in Cavite (from 3.6%), 5.9 percent in Pampanga (from 3.3%), 5.8 percent in Cagayan (from 1.9%), 5.7 percent in Iloilo (4.4%), and 5.6 percent in Batangas (1.2%).
ALERT LEVEL
Meanwhile, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay on Monday expressed hope that the Alert Level 1 imposed in most provinces be retained to help the employment sector continue its recovery and meet the goals of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
In a virtual press briefing, Tutay said they are against the escalation of the alert levels because this will have adverse effects to the economy and the employment sector.
“We do hope that we won’t go back to Alert Level 2 or Alert Level 3. We hope it won’t happen because we really do want that the economy will continue to open,” she said.
COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Metro Manila and several provinces in the country, sparking fears of an escalation from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 2.
In the past, stricter community restrictions have resulted to massive displacement of workers.
Similarly, the labor official said they are hopeful that the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will have the confidence of businessmen because having high investor confidence will help create more local jobs for Filipinos.
“The support to the incoming administration is very vital because it means they are confident with the incoming leadership,” she said.
“That confidence level will translate to more investments. Then, the employment climate will also be part of that positive development,” added Tutay.
Under the PDP 2017-2022, the government is targeting to decrease unemployment by 3 to 5 percent by 2022.
Such a metric is equivalent to generating 950,000 to 1.1 million new jobs each year.
