FOUR provinces in Davao Region are classified under Alert Level 2 from November 1-15, 2022, based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) Alert Level System (ALS) classification for provinces and cities.
Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao Occidental, and Davao del Sur, excluding Davao City, are among the 32 areas in the country with an updated Alert Level based on the latest Alert Level System (ALS) classifications for provinces and cities approved by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
However, in a statement released by DOH on October 31, there are still more areas nationwide that remained under Alert Level 1, particularly 89 or 74 percent out of 121 provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities, and 192 or 29 percent out of 669 other component cities and municipalities.
“This means that our key indicators, such as the healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) are showing improvements,” said DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire said.
As of October 30, the HCUR in Davao Region is 33.6 percent or 342 beds out of 1,017 are occupied for non-ICU beds and 48.8 percent or 79 beds out of 162 for ICU bed utilization.
At the same time, there are currently 33 severe and critical admissions or 7.22 percent out of total 457 Covid-19 admissions.
Meanwhile, the vaccine statistics in the region is at 87.6 percent or 3,324,581 fully vaccinated while 3.1 percent or 118,302 are administered with the second booster dose.
This is out of the 3,796,830 target population. In total, Davao Region is at 87.6 percent vaccine coverage.
The other areas in Mindanao that are included under the Alert Level 2 classification are Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.
In line with this, the DOH reiterated that local government units should strictly implement the remaining health and safety protocols against Covid-19, especially since wearing masks are now voluntary in indoor and outdoor settings.
These health and safety protocols are anti-Covid-19 vaccination, isolation when sick, maintaining appropriate social distancing, and proper ventilation.
“Ngayong patuloy nating tinatanggal ang ating mga restrictions upang makatulong sa ating ekonomiya, mas lumalaki ang responsibilidad ng ating mga lokal na pamahalaan na siguruhing mananatiling mababa ang mga kaso sa kanilang mga lugar (Now that we are continuing to relax our restrictions in order to help the economy recover, there is a bigger responsibility to make sure that Covid-19 cases in the local government units remain low),” Vergeire said. ICM