All regions in the Philippines are now classified to be under minimal risk for COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.
The country first achieved minimal risk case classification on Dec. 6, with the majority of the regions classified as low risk for COVID-19.
“Our epidemic curve shows a very steep decline and now a plateau,” Health Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea de Guzman said during a briefing.
De Guzman said all the regions recorded a two-week decline in cases and an average daily attack rate of less than 1 per 100,000 individuals.
“This decline in cases is reflected in our utilization rates, may it be total bed utilization or ICU utilization,” she told reporters.
The Philippines recorded a two-week growth rate of negative 59 percent with an ADAR of 1.41.
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region recorded a two-week growth rate of negative 61 percent and an ADAR of 0.67.
“All provinces, HUCs, and ICCs of areas remain under Alert Level 2 with minimal to low-risk case classification,” De Guzman said.
However, the DOH said it is monitoring Region XII and Region V, which recorded a positive growth rate in the recent week of 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
The DOH is also monitoring Lapu-Lapu City and General Santos City after these recorded a positive one-week growth rate and a positive two-week growth rate.
Both areas remain at low-risk classification with an ADAR of less than 1 per 100,000.
Active cases nationwide might decline to 1,766 by Jan. 31 if the current practice of minimum public health standards (MPHS) is retained, while it may increase up to 9,388 if the public becomes lax, said De Guzman, citing projections made on Dec. 11 with 11,373 active infections.
In Metro Manila, active cases might decline to 148 by Jan. 31 if current mobility and MPHS are maintained, while it may reach up to 325 if mobility is increased and MPHS are not followed, De Guzman added.
She said it was important for everyone not to let their guard down.
The Philippines logged 235 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,836,868.
The Philippines also logged 0.9 percent COVID-19 positivity rate, the lowest in the country since testing data became available.
The declining number of new cases observed since October has been attributed to the widening vaccination coverage in the country.
The positivity rate is based on test results of samples from 24,120 people on Dec.12, Sunday, the DOH said. On Sept. 7 this year, the country recorded its highest positivity rate at 29.5 percent.
A total of 228 of the 235 newly reported cases were confirmed this month, and Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon logged the most cases in the past two weeks.
There were 10 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 50,351.
The DOH also reported 780 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries 2,775,991.
There were 10,526 active cases, of which 659 were asymptomatic; 4,104 mild; 3,502 moderate; 1,868 severe; and 393 critical. This is the first time since May 28 that the number of active cases fell below 11,000.
Nationwide, 23 percent of ICU beds, 24 percent of isolation beds, 12 percent of ward beds, and 13 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 24 percent of ICU beds, 19 percent of isolation beds,
17 percent of ward beds, and 16 percent of ventilators, were in use.
The Palace on Tuesday said more than 24 million COVID-19 vaccine doses will arrive in the country in the third week of December, the biggest weekly delivery so far.
“The bulk of the deliveries, apart from procurements by the government and the private sector, are donations from the governments of France, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, China, United Kingdom, and European Union-member countries through the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility,” Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
Of the 24 million doses that will be delivered, 2.3 million were supposed to arrive on Dec. 13, and the 8.2 million will arrive on Dec. 14, while the 10 million doses will arrive on Dec. 15, Galvez said.
The 4.9 million doses from Pfizer form part of the 18 million doses, which were supposed to be delivered by the pharmaceutical company this December.
The Moderna jabs, on the other hand, are donations from the COVAX facility, which Galvez said, will be administered to minors as well as booster shots for health care workers and those with comorbidities.
China will be donating another 2 million doses of CoronaVac jabs, Galvez said, bringing their vaccine deliveries to 50 million doses.
Another 2.9 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines being procured by the local government units and by the private sector as well as those donated by the UK and other countries will arrive this month.
With the expected deliveries, Galvez said the government can expand its vaccination drive by administering boosters.
The country now has 41 million fully vaccinated individuals, representing 53.20 percent of the target population. Pediatric vaccination is also making headway with more than 7 million minors aged 12 to 17 having received the first dose while 2.1 million getting two doses.
COVID-19 jabs will soon be available for children aged 5 to 11 once vaccine manufacturers successfully amend their emergency use authorization (EUA) issued for unregistered drugs and vaccines during a public health emergency.
The administration aims to inoculate 77 million Filipinos against the deadly coronavirus by the end of the first quarter next year and fully vaccinate 90 million individuals before the President’s term ends.