Some urban centers outside Metro Manila are experiencing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases, a research group tracking the pandemic said Wednesday.
“Significant increases in new cases were observed in Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, and Iloilo City,” the OCTA Research Group said in its latest report.
Iloilo had 58 new cases, up 99 percent from last week, while Cagayan de Oro and Davao posted a weekly increase of 52 percent and 36 percent, respectively, OCTA said.
Zamboanga City still recorded the highest number of new infections over the past week with 158 cases, representing a 4 percent rise.
OCTA, on the other hand, has said the increases outside Metro Manila, while significant, were not yet alarming and still supported allocating the bulk of vaccines to the National Capital Region, which it considers the epicenter of the pandemic.
For the period May 11 to 17, Metro Manila’s average daily attack rate (ADAR) was 9.91 per 100,000 people.
“Most LGUs (local government units) within the NCR bubble (National Capital Region, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite) are on a downward trend in new cases,” the OCTA group said.
The reproduction number, which refers to the number of people that a person with COVID-19 can infect, was 0.80 nationwide and 0.54 in Metro Manila.
The current seven-day average of new cases in the Philippines is 5,834. This was 11 percent lower than the previous week, OCTA said.
Earlier this week, President Rodrigo Duterte warned he might impose a stricter lockdown should COVID-19 infections surge again, and if people continue to violate health protocols, adding that the country must prepare for the worst.
The Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday that 10 regions experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases will be allocated more COVID-19 vaccines.
Local authorities and the national government are working to address the COVID-19 situation in the 10 areas, especially in Region 9, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said.
The DOH flagged Zamboanga Peninsula and nine other regions due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
DOH data showed that the occupancy rate of intensive care unit, isolation, and ward beds in Region 9 had breached the high-risk category at 75 percent.
It also logged a 49 percent case growth rate and attack rate of 6.10 cases per 100,000 population.
“Part of our strategy is to give them additional vaccines to their regular allocation,” Cabotaje said in an online briefing.
“Secretary Carlito Galvez and Secretary Vince Dizon are flying there to oversee what needs to be done, what needs to be strengthened in the response of local health workers and the local government,” she said in Filipino.
The Philippines logged 4,700 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 1,159,071, as seven laboratories failed to submit their data on time, the DOH said.
The DOH reported 136 new fatalities, bringing the total COVID-19 death toll to 19,507.
The DOH reported 6,986 newly recovered people, bringing the total recoveries to 1,089,613.
That left 49,951 active cases, of which 92.8 percent were mild, 2.2 percent were asymptomatic, 1.5 percent were critical, 2.1 percent were severe, and 1.36 percent were moderate.
Nationwide, the DOH reported 58 percent of ICU beds, 45 percent of isolation beds, 48 percent of ward beds, and 39 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, the DOH reported 56 percent of ICU beds, 41 percent of isolation beds, 45 percent of ward beds, and 41 percent of ventilators were in use.
The DOH said the Philippines hopes to achieve herd community against COVID-19 in Metro Manila and eight other areas by November this year.
The department plans to inoculate at least 108,000 people a day in the National Capital Region (NCR), Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Rizal, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao as more shots arrive, Cabotaje told state television PTV4.
The Philippines remains dependent on the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, but the DOH is optimistic as more vaccines are expected to arrive in the second half of the year, she said.
“We will receive about 10 million to 11 million doses in June, July, [and] August so more or less that will be steady,” she said.
Since March, the country’s vaccination program has been limited to health frontliners, senior citizens, and persons with co-morbidities due to the low supply of vaccines.
The government is hoping to open the inoculation program to workers in essential industries and indigent people in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces, Cabotaje said.
“We will concentrate the vaccination in geographical areas where there is a surge in cases,” she said.
Cabotaje said the government is also closely monitoring some areas in the Visayas and Mindanao that have been reporting an increase in fresh COVID-19 cases.
Also on Wednesday, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said his department has spent P56.2 billion for the construction of modular hospitals and quarantine facilities with about 25,000 beds across the country so far, with a plan to increase this to 27,000 by next month.
“In terms of quarantine facilities, there is a significant improvement from last month, but nevertheless we still continue to aggressively build so that we have a sufficient buffer in case there is another surge,” he told the ANC news channel.