The Health Agency announces 3643 new cases with 49 deaths added today. Positivity is slightly down at 16.2% while the NCR owned 1167 (32%) of the cases for the day.

The day’s cases was led by Cavite 264 and five other provinces with triple digits: Laguna 129, Rizal 124, Bulacan 144, Cebu 122, and Baguio City 109.

Provinces with double digits and more than 50 cases were: Batangas 60, Quezon 52, Pampanga 84, Iloilo 50, Cagayan Province 54, Isabela 71, Davao del Sur 90, Benguet 50 and Zamboanga del Sur 51. The provinces of Cmarines Sur 33, Agusan del Sur 29 and Palawan 33, reported unusually higher numbers.

In NCR, five LGUs reported triple digits, led by Quezon City 251, Manila 130, Makati 123, Taguig 121, and Parañaque 114. Provinces with double digits were: Pasig 86, Las Piñas 68, Pasay City 49, Muntinlupa 45, Mandaluyong 42, Caloocan 39, Valenzuela 31, Marikina 27, Malabon 19 and San Juan 16.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The Philippines has noted a slowing down in the number of cases this week as it has seemed to peak in numbers. Even the 7-day positivity rate is down to 16.4% (from the previous week of more than 18%). While the numbers may not be reflective of the actual numbers as only RT-PCR results are announced, the estimate in positive cases is around 10-18x the current number depending on the locality and testing capability (and availability of antigen test kits). Understandably, because of the mild presentation of Omicron sub variant, those in far flung provinces most likely do not test anymore (nor isolate for the prescribed period of time). This is one reason why this ‘mild’ wave is taking a bit longer to shake off.

The East Asian nations are seeing a slight slow down in cases,, except for Japan and South Korea. In terms of 7-day averages, Japan still have over 200,000 daily cases, while South Korea is in an upswing with close to 130,000 daily cases. Based on per capita (per million population), South Korea has the highest 7-day average at close to 2500 cases per million, while Japan is a far second with 1620 cases per million. Brunei has not provided any data in the last 2 days (as of this writing).

All East Asian nations report quadruple digits daily in the past week. However, only China is seeing a rise in the effective reproduction rate at 1.24. Japan and Indonesia are now lower at 1.06 and 1.01, while the rest of East Asian countries are at <1.0, including the Philippines which has an Rt of 0.99 (+/- 0.05). As long as the Philippines is able to sustain this for the next 4 weeks, hopefully we should see a declining trend into the “-ber” months.

The Health Agency announces 3715 new cases with 16.4% positivity rate (7-day average) and another successive day of more than 40 deaths (47 today). The NCR owned 1185 of the day’s cases.

In NCR, four LGUs reported triple digits. This was led by Quezon City with 269 cases. Others were: Manila 145, Taguig 127 and Makati 119. Double digits came from 11 other LGUs: Pasig and Parañaque with 83 each, Las Piñas 60, Pasay City 59, Mandaluyong 54, Caloocan 49, Marikina 37, Muntinlupa 35, Valenzuela 28, San Juan 20, Malabon 11.

Provinces and HUCs outside of NCR with triple digits today were: Cavite 222, Laguna 188, Rizal 121, Bulacan 155, Iloilo 112, Cebu 124, Davao del Sur 126.

Double digits with more than 50 cases outside of NCR were: Batangas 81, Pampanga 97, Negros Occidental 71, Cagayan Province 88, Isabela 53, Baguio City 76.

Provinces with an uptrend in cases (and most likely under reported) were: Apayao 28 and Benguet 43.

The Health Agency announces 3748 new cases (10 less than yesterday) and 40 added deaths (stubbornly the fourth straight day with more than 40 daily deaths) and 16.3% positivity rate (which hasn’t really moved and which may mean that we are now peaking). The NCR owned 1114 of the day’s cases (29.7%). This means that cases in the province are still rising and is more worrisome because there is less testing in the provinces and most likely a higher share of under reported cases as well.

In the NCR, 2 LGUs continued to report triple digits: Quezon City 265 and Manila 153. Thirteen LGUs reported double digits: Parañaque 98, Makati 93, Pasig 85, Muntinlupa 61, Mandaluyong 59, Las Piñas 57, Taguig 52, Marikina 42, Caloocan 36, Valenzuela 34, Pasay City 33, San Juan 19, and Malabon 13.

Outside of NCR, triple digit contributors were: Cavite 219, Laguna 207, Rizal 150 and Bulacan 119. The following provinces/HUCs reported 50 or more cases: Nueva Ecija 87, Iloilo 87, Bataan 78, Pampanga 84, Negros Occidental 67, Cebu 96, Cagayan Province 82, Isabela 64, Nueva Vizcaya 63, Davao del Sur 98, La Union 77, Pangasinan 57 and Zamboanga del Sur 68.

Areas outside of NCR that are seeing unusually higher numbers today were: Agusan del Sur 23, Surigao del Sur 32, Leyte 27, Camarines Norte 40, and Ilocos Norte 40.

Reminding the public to remain vigilant that while the numbers are peaking, these can go both ways – upwards or downtrend depending on the behavior of the public as classes open and the weather systems affect the public crowd capacity especially during disasters.

It is also a good reminder that when you have symptoms, isolate and test immediately.

The Health Agency announces 3758 new cases with 48 added deaths and 16.3% positivity today. NCR owned 29.2% of the cases (1098).

Four LGUs in NCR reported triple digits: Quezon City 282, Manila 126, Taguig 114 and Parañaque 110. Double digits came from: Makati 94, Pasig 62, Las Piñas 54, Pasay City 50, Marikina 41, Muntinlupa 40, Valenzuela 36, Caloocan 33 and Mandaluyong 32.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs reported triple digits: Cavite 198, Laguna 180, Cebu 147, Davao del Sur 144, Rizal 138, Bulacan 114, Pampanga 109, and Cagayan Province 105.

Double digits with more than 50 cases were: Batangas 77, Quezon Province 68, Iloilo 90, Zamboanga del Sur 64, Isabela 53, Pangasinan 54, and Baguio City 58. Other provinces had higher than their average daily numbers and continue to rise.

The Health Agency announces 2892 new cases with 46 added deaths today. The 7-day positivity rate is at 16.1%. NCR owned 845 (29.2%) of the day’s cases.

In NCR, three LGUs reported triple digits led by Quezon City with 202, Manila 107 and Makati 103. Ten LGUs had double digits: Parañaque 75, Pasig 60, Taguig and Muntinlupa 45 each, Caloocan 41, Las Piñas 37, Pasay City 35, Mandaluyong 27, Valenzuela and Marikina 24 apiece.

Outside of NCR, the provinces of Cavite and Laguna reported triple digits with 145 cases each.

Provinces/HUCs that had double digits but > 50 cases were: Rizal 95, Batangas 70, Bulacan 94, Pampanga 63, Nueva Ecija 78, Tarlac 92, Iloilo 68, Negros Occidental 63, Cebu 87, Cagayan Province 52, Davao del Sur 88 and Baguio City 78.

Note that the numbers do not reflect the true numbers of COVID-19 in the country as these are based only on RT-PCR tests done and reported. In reality, it may be 10-20x higher in certain areas of the country.

The Health Agency announces 2633 new cases with 15.5% positivity rate (up 1% from yesterday) and 49 added deaths. The NCR accounted for 846 of these cases.

Two LGUs in NCR had triple digits: Quezon City 199 and Manila 121. Double digits were reported in 11 LGUs: Makati 80, Pasig 72, Taguig 69, Parañaque 63, Las Piñas 38, Caloocan and Mandaluyong 36 each, Pasay City 35, Marikina 32, Muntinlupa 22, Valenzuela 21.

Outside of NCR, four provinces had triple digits: Cavite 200, Bulacan 129, Cebu 120 and Laguna 110. Provinces/HUCs with double digits but had more than 50 cases were: Rizal 98, Batangas 62, Pampanga 74, Nueva Ecija 56, Cagayan Province 86, Isabela 58, Davao del Sur 71 and Zamboanga del Sur 67.

The week for August 8-14, 2022 closed with 28,008 cases or 3% higher than the week of August 1-7. This is an average of 4001 cases/day. Severe and critical cases were up at 101 while 229 deaths were added this past week. Of these deaths 98 (43%) were recent (occurring from August 1-14). Hospital utilization rate was at 30.9% for non ICU and 28% for ICU care.

The Health Agency announces announces 3484 new cases today with 42 added deaths and the positivity rate is reset. The positivity rate today is at 14.8%. NCR owned close to one-third of the cases for the day.

In NCR, Quezon City led the haul with 241 cases followed by Manila 148, Makati 117 and Parañaque 103.

Triple digits outside of NCR (provinces and HUCs) were: Cavite 267, Laguna 201, Bulacan 121, Cebu 110, and Rizal and Batangas with 106 cases each.

The Health Agency announces 4182 new cases with 18.1% positivity (slightly lower from yesterday’s 18.4%). However, there were 44 deaths added today. NCR accounted for 31% of the cases for the day.

The provinces hauled in most of the cases today with Laguna accounting for 298 cases followed by Cavite with 270. Other triple digit contributors outside of NCR were: Rizal 157, Batangas 100, Bulacan 132, Cagayan Province 125, and Davao del Sur 118. Double digits came from: Quezon Province 58, Pampanga 92, Bataan 34, Nueva Ecija 83, Tarlac 92, Zambales 21, Iloilo 81, Negros Occidental 51, Aklan 14, Antique 28, Cebu 91, Negros Oriental 12, Bohol 17, Isabela 52, Nueva Vizcaya 21, Davao del Norte 27, Pangasinan 61, Ilocos Norte 26, Ilocos Sur 35, La Union 75, Baguio City 66, Benguet 43, Kalinga 24, Ifugao 34, Mountain Province 11, Bulidnon 30, Cagayan de Oro City 20, Misamis Occidental 11, South Cotabato 21, North Cotabato 14, Sarangani 10, Camarines Sur 29, Albay 40, Naga City 25, Sorsogon 11, Zamboanga del Norte 51, Leyte 13, Agusan del Sur 12, Butuan City 11, Surigao del Sur 15, Surigao del Norte 31, Sultan Kudarat 14 and Marinduque 13.

In NCR, four LGUs reported triple digits led by Quezon City with 263 cases, Parañaque 150, Makati 143, and Manila 142. There were 11 LGUs with double digits: Las Piñas 86 Pasig 81, Taguig 79, Pasay City 66, Mandaluyong 64, Muntinlupa 57, Caloocan 46, Marikina 45, Valenzuela 29, San Juan 16, and Malabon 13.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The cases in East Asia take front and center stage as Japan and South Korea drew higher cases this week compared to last week, with more than 200,000 and 100,000, respectively.

In this part of the world, the reproduction rates now ease to lower levels compared to the previous weeks – which may indirectly point to many countries reaching an inflection point of peaking. However, with BA.5, the peak may be a long and procrastinated one if the Rt remains at 1.0. It needs to drop significantly (<0.5) in order to see a significantly control because many cases are unreported, undetected and surveillance is not common practice in most of the countries in the region already. The Philippines has a lower effective Rt now at 1.11 (+/- 0.05). However, this number is the second highest in the region and tells us that the country will still continue to see increasing cases (albeit, smaller ones) for now.

Countries with declining Rt – Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam – will continue to see a decline in their cases, while those with Rt of >1.0 will have unchanging numbers which can even go south (see an unpredictable increase) as mobility and economy take the front and center stage in the upcoming weeks.

The Health Agency announces one of the highest number of deaths in this surge with 48 added deaths today. There were 4679 new cases with a positivity rate at 18.4%. NCR owned 29.6% of the cases for the day, which can only mean that the provinces are seeing higher cases (and are also the areas highly under reported).

In NCR, Quezon City led the haul with 280 cases. This was followed by Makati 171, Manila 170 and Taguig 140. Other LGUs with double digits were: Las Piñas 99, Pasig 97, Parañaque 96, Pasay City 58, Muntinlupa and Marikina 55 each, Valenzuela and Mandaluyong 46 each, Caloocan 42, and San Juan 12.

In the provinces and HUCs outside of NCR, Laguna led the way with 276 cases followed by Cavite 265, Cebu 173, Iloilo 169, Rizal 160, Isabela 143, Davao del Sur 131, Bulacan 120, Batangas 110, Cagayan Province 109, and Baguio City 103.

Double digits in the provinces came from: Quezon Province 59, Bataan 43, Nueva Ecija 88, Tarlac 62, Zambales 28, Negros Occidental 60, Aklan 15, Capiz 30, Antique 22, Negros Oriental 20, Bohol 30, Nueva Vizcaya 17, Quirino Province 10, Davao del Norte 12, Pangasinan 62, La Union 65, Ilocos Norte 26, Ilocos Sur 32, Benguet 35, Kalinga 34, Mountain Province 36, Apayao 12, Abra 16, Bukidnon 18, Cagayan de Oro City 23, Misamis Oriental 15, Misamis Occidental 19, South Cotabato 20, General Santos 25, North Cotabato 10, Camarines Sur 55, Albay 50, Naga City 35, Zamboanga del Sur 53, Leyte 16, Agusan del Sur 12, Butuan City 21, Surigao del Sur 21, Mindoro Oriental 18, Palawan 26 and Camarines Norte 32.

Testing in the provinces is more under reported than in the National Capital Region, except in select highly urbanized areas.

The Health Agency announces 4661 new cases with 28 added deaths and a positivity rate of 18.4% today. NCR had a bump up of cases of 1489 (32%) for today.

NCR ‘s haul today was led by six LGUs with triple digits. Quezon City led the haul both in the NCR and nationally with 327 cases. This was followed by Parañaque with 194, Manila 149, Makati 145, Taguig 132 and Pasig 121. Double digits were seen in nine LGUs: Las Piñas 78, Muntinlupa 70, Mandaluyong 64, Marikina 60, Pasay City 48, Caloocan 39, Valenzuela 22, Malabon 14 and San Juan 11.

In the provinces and HUCs outside of NCR, Cavite led the haul with 325 cases. Those with triple digits were: Laguna 287, Rizal 169, Batangas 107, Bulacan 148, Pampanga 135, Cebu 149, Davao del Sur 121, Pangasinan 146, and Nueva Vizcaya 103.

Double digits in the provinces/HUCs were: Quezon Province 61, Bataan 38, Nueva Ecija 82, Tarlac 80, Zambales 26, Iloilo 81, Negros Occidental 63, Capiz 21, Antique 21, Negros Oriental 43, Cagayan Province 29, Isabela 64, Davao del Norte 18, Ilocos Norte 21, Ilocos Sur 36, Baguio City 82, Benguet 34, Kalinga 20, Mountain Province 15, Bukidnon 23, Cagayan de Oro City 26, Misamis Oriental 16, Misamis Occidental 14, Iligan City 20, South Cotabato 16, General Santos City 12, North Cotabato 17, Camarines Sur 49, Albay 24, Naga City 18, Zamboanga del Sur 61, Leyte 38, Agusan del Sur 29, Butuan City 19, Surigao del Sur 26, Palawan 37, Masbate 11, Camarines Norte 12, Zamboanga Sibugay 15, Surigao del Norte 14.