CORONAVIRUS disease (COVID-19) positivity rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) and five other provinces in Luzon are slowly climbing, according to data of the independent OCTA Research.
In a social media post, OCTA fellow Guido David said the increase in positivity rates were noted between September 10 and 17 in the six Luzon areas.
David said the positivity rate of Metro Manila went up to 15.6 percent from 13.3 percent.
Also seeing uptick in positivity rates are Bulacan (16.1% from 11.5%), Cavite (16.6% from 13.9%), Laguna (10.7% from 9.8%), Pangasinan (8% from 6.9%), and Rizal (18.7% from 17.4%).
Among those that saw increases in positivity rates, NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal stood at “high” classification, while Pangasinan stayed at “moderate” level.
On the other hand, Laguna shifted from moderate to high classification.
OCTA said the positivity rates in 14 other areas in Luzon went down.
These are Tarlac (33.2% from 33.7%), Nueva Ecija (21.9% from 35.1%), Camarines Sur (20.6% from 30%), Pampanga (13.3% from 15.1%), La Union (12.4% from 15.3%), Isabela (11.5% from 15.7%), Albay (10.6% from 22.1%), Cagayan (9.9% from 11.1%), Batangas (9.4% from 10.2%), Quezon (9.3% from 10.1%), Ilocos Norte (9.1% from 9.6%), Benguet (6.8% from 9.2%), Bataan (5.5% from 7.1%), and Zambales (4.4% from 10%).
Staying at their “very high” classification level despite improving numbers are Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Camarines Sur; while Pampanga, La Union, and Isabela stood at high level; and Ilocos Norte, Benguet, and Bataan stayed at moderate level.
Changing classification levels after dropping their positivity rates are Albay (very high to high), Batangas (high to moderate), Cagayan (high to moderate), Quezon (high to moderate), and Zambales (moderate to low).
The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported that daily COVID-19 cases over the past seven days further declined but remained above the 2,000-mark.
Based on the health department’s COVID-19 case bulletin, an average of 2,101 cases daily were recorded for the period of September 12 to 18, or a total of 14,707 cases.
“This is 4 percent lower than cases reported from September 5 to 11,” said the DOH, adding there were 7 additional severe and critical case and 248 deaths reported over the past seven days.
The DOH also reported that as of September 18, there are 772 severe and critical COVID-19 cases in the country.
Of the total severe and critical cases, the report showed that 637 are occupying ICU beds, or 24.1 percent of the 2,638 total nationwide.
On the other hand, there are 6,110 patients who are occupying COVID-19 beds, which is 28.9 percent of the 21,150 total COVID-19 beds allocated nationwide.
FATALITY RATES
In a separate post, OCTA noted how the elderly sector remains as the most vulnerable to deaths due to COVID-19.
This, as the group noted that the 60 years old and above age group has a case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.06 percent during the period of June to September 2022.
All other age groups had no more than 1 percent CFR, based on OCTA’s numbers.
The CFRs of those below 60 years old are as follows: 50-59 at 0.69 percent; 12 to 17 at 0.22 percent; 5 to 11 at 0.20 percent; 0 to 4 at 0.15 percent; and 18 to 49 at 0.14 percent.
Based on the latest Department of Health data, the overall CFR for COVID-19 is at 1.59 percent.
