NEARLY nine in 10 areas in the Philippines are currently experiencing a rise in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, with 57 areas being flagged by the Department of Health (DOH) for recording positive growth rates in the last two weeks.
“National and all regions observe continued case increases in the recent weeks with 88 percent of provinces, HUCs (highly urbanized cities), and ICCs (independent component cities) across all island groups showing positive growth in cases,” said the DOH in its latest national Covid-19 situationer report.
It noted how the average daily reported cases have gone up to 914 for the period of June 25 to July 1, from 599 for June 18 to 24.
The Octa Research has also recorded an increase in Covid-19 positivity rates of several provinces in the country, including Cebu, Dr. Guido David said Friday, July 1, 2022.
David said Cavite registered the highest increase in the positivity rate, which was from 5.9 percent on June 25 to 13.2 percent on June 29.
From a 6.0 percent positivity rate on June 25 in the National Capital Region (NCR), it rose to 7.5 percent on June 29.
The positivity rate of Batangas increased from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, Benguet from 3.2 percent to 6.0 percent, Iloilo from 5.7 percent to 6.9 percent, Laguna from 7.6 percent to 8.8 percent, and Pampanga from 5.9 percent to 7.7 percent.
The positivity rates of these areas have surpassed the five percent benchmark set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The positivity rate of Bulacan, Cebu and Davao del Sur also went up to 4.0, 3.5 and 3.3 percent on June 29, respectively, from 2.9, 2.8 and 2.1 percent on June 25.
The positivity rate refers to the number of people testing positive for coronavirus after getting tested.
On Thursday, June 30, the DOH recorded 1,309 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest single daily tally since Feb. 25.
The country currently has 7,871 active Covid-19 cases.
The DOH flagged 32 Luzon areas, 14 Visayas areas, and 11 Mindanao areas showing positive growth in cases in the recent one and two weeks.
In the Visayas, flagged were Iloilo City, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu City, Mandaue City, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu City, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Tacloban City, and Biliran.
Central Visayas
Central Visayas had 392 Covid-19 active cases on June 30, 2022.
Based on the Covid-19 tracker of the DOH in Central Visayas, Cebu Province had the most number of active cases among the provinces at 67 active cases, followed by Negros Oriental with 38, and Bohol with 21.
The top 10 local government units in Cebu Province with the most number of active cases were Talisay City (15), Consolacion (5), Minglanilla, Danao City, and Liloan (4 each), Naga City (3), Carcar City and Toledo City (2 each), and Argao and Cordova (1 each).
For Cebu’s highly urbanized cities, Cebu City topped the list with 211 active Covid-19 cases, followed by Mandaue with 38 cases and Lapu-Lapu City with 17 cases.
For June 19 to 25, the DOH 7 reported 202 new Covid-19 cases with daily average of 29 cases, which is 132 percent higher than the cases from June 12 to 18.
For healthcare utilization, 26.3 percent or 360 of 1,368 non-ICU beds were utilized while only 7.5 percent or nine of 120 ICU (intensive care unit) beds were used as of June 25. Of the Covid-19 admissions, 37 individuals were considered severe or critical cases. (SunStar Philippines)