Secretary Vince Dizon has resigned as president of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority but will continue as the Philippines’ COVID-19 testing czar and deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
At a Senate hearing Monday, BCDA Executive Vice President Aileen Zosa said Dizon’s resignation, which was formally conveyed to President Rodrigo Duterte, was to take effect last Friday, Oct. 15.
“I think it was an irrevocable resignation, but he will stay in the Cabinet… for the anti-COVID efforts of the government,” Zosa told Sen. Sonny Angara, who asked about Dizon.
As COVID-19 testing czar, Dizon is one of four government officials assigned as point persons for key areas of the government’s pandemic response efforts dubbed as T3 (Test, Track, Treat).
Reports indicated that the former Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects is joining the team behind Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso’s 2022 presidential bid. Dizon has yet to confirm or deny the reports.
Meanwhile, some 83 areas in Metro Manila remain under granular lockdown despite the region’s shift to the more relaxed Alert Level 3 over the weekend.
Based on the latest data released on Monday, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said these include 29 areas under the Quezon City Police District; 25 under the Manila Police District; 17 under the Eastern Police District; 10 under the Southern Police District; and two under the Northern Police District.
These areas are in 53 villages across the region.
The NCRPO has deployed a total of 238 police officers to secure these areas.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar has ordered all unit commanders in Metro Manila to coordinate with local government units (LGUs) to determine whether there is a need to deploy more police officers in public places and leisure areas.
“We still need to ensure the safety of our people because complacency might cause another surge in COVID-19 cases in NCR,” Eleazar said.
This came as the PNP recorded a total of 19,014 violators of minimum public health standards and curfew hours during the first weekend of the implementation of Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila.
Among popular destinations which saw an influx of visitors include churches, malls, the Manila Bay dolomite beach, and Rizal Park.
Under Alert Level 3, several establishments can operate at 30 percent indoor venue capacity only for fully vaccinated individuals and 50 percent outdoor venue capacity, provided that all employees are fully vaccinated.
Religious gatherings, dine-in, and personal care services are allowed at 30 percent indoor capacity for fully vaccinated persons only and 50 percent outdoor capacity for all persons, regardless of vaccination status.
The government has also allowed cinemas to reopen under this alert level.
The Philippines logged 6,943 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 2,727,286.
There were 86 new fatalities Monday, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 40,761.
The DOH also reported 19,687 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 2,617,693.
There were 68,832 active cases. This is the lowest active case count since the 66,895 on Aug. 5.
Of the active cases, 79.7 percent were mild, 5.5 percent were asymptomatic, 1.9 percent were critical, 4.5 percent were severe, and 8.42 percent were moderate.
The positivity rate was at 13.3 percent, based on samples of 54,150 people tested on Oct. 16, Saturday.
Nationwide, 62 percent of ICU beds, 46 percent of isolation beds, 46 percent of ward beds, and 45 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 59 percent of ICU beds, 38 percent of isolation beds, 43 percent of ward beds, and 45 percent of ventilators, were in use.
The independent OCTA Research Group, meanwhile, said the reproduction number—or the number of people that one case can infect—fell to 0.57 in the NCR, from the 0.58 earlier recorded.
A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.
OCTA fellow Guido David, said the NCR recorded 1,159 new cases on Sunday, the lowest since July 28.
Meanwhile, the seven-day average in NCR also decreased to 1,448 while its positivity rate decreased to 9 percent.
“The last time the positivity rate was at 9 percent was from July 23 to July 29,” David said.
David said the current average daily attack rate is 10.23 per 100,000 of the population.
The hospital occupancy in NCR is at 44 percent while the ICU occupancy rate was at 59 percent.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, an infectious disease expert, on Sunday urged the public not to be complacent as the utilization rate of ICU in hospitals is still high despite the decrease in COVID-19 cases.
OCTA Research earlier said based on the trend, the Philippines may have around 5,000 to 6,000 daily.
The DOH said Zamboanga Peninsula is the only region in the country that remains at high-risk for COVID-19.
According to data from the DOH, Zamboanga Peninsula has an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 9.24 per 100,000 individuals, not far from the 9.23 ADAR in the previous three to four weeks.
It has a bed utilization rate of 70.29 percent, a mechanical ventilator utilization rate of 61.11 percent, and an intensive care unit utilization rate of 54.02 percent.
“Most regions are showing negative two-week growth rates. However, the majority remain with high-risk average daily attack rates,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.
“Region IX is the sole region with high-risk case classification,” she added.
Meanwhile, Vergeire said that the epidemic curve in the country’s major island groups, as well as National Capital Region Plus areas, are on a downward trend.
Vergeire said that cases have been going down since the peak in early September as daily cases decreased by 23 percent.
“Disaggregating our epidemic curve in the major island groups and the National Capital Region Plus areas, it can be observed that all areas have peaked and are at a downward trend,” she said.
Vergeire said the Philippines is at moderate-risk case classification with a negative two-week growth rate at 44 percent and a high-risk ADAR at 8.26 cases per 100,000, lower than the 14.71 in the previous three to four weeks.
The Philippines ICU utilization rate is also at moderate risk at 62 percent.
Vergeire said both Cordillera Administrative Region and the Cagayan Valley have total beds and ICU utilization rates at high risk.
The National Capital Region, meanwhile, shows a negative or low-risk two-week growth rate at -54 percent and a high-risk ADAR at 12.28 per 100,000.
Vergeire said the region’s health systems capacity is at low to moderate risk with total beds and ICU utilization at 44 percent to 59 percent utilization.
“In NCR the seven-day moving average… shows a decrease as cases in the recent seven days decreased compared to the previous seven days by 533 cases or 27 percent,” she said.
She defended the DOH assessment that COVID-19 cases are going down, saying this is backed by data.
“We don’t just get our data anywhere. We have an official database where we monitor all hospitals all over the country,” she said in Filipino.
She said the DOH also has operational units that provide the agency with data.
Also on Monday, the DOH reported 633 new cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.
Vergeire said the latest run on Oct. 16 sequenced a total of 748 samples from September.
Some 633 of those sampled tested positive for the Delta variant, six cases tested positive for the Beta variant, and three tested positive for the Alpha variant.
Vergeire said a total of 17,147 samples have been sequenced, of which 88.46 percent or 15,168 have lineages.
The Delta variant remains the most common lineage among the samples sequenced nationally at 29.2 percent.
“All 17 regions either have an Alpha, Beta, or a Delta variant case. In the National Capital Region, all cities and the lone municipality were found to have a variant of concern,” Vergeire said.