The Health Agency announces 4533 new cases with 27 added deaths today. The positivity rate is up at 18.3%. The National Capital Region accounted for 27% (1226) of the cases for the day.

The haul today was led by Cavite with 308 cases. The provinces and HUCs outside of NCR with triple digits were: Laguna 266, Rizal 156, Batangas 137, Bulacan 155, Pampanga 107, Nueva Ecija 102, Iloilo 170, Cebu 148, Isabela 104, Pangasinan 121. Double digits were seen in the following provinces and HUCs: Quezon Province 93, Bataan 53, Tarlac 78, Zambales 21, Negros Occidental 52, Aklan 19, Cadiz 30, Antique 39, Negros Oriental 15, Bohol 26, Cagayan Province 97, Nueva Vizcaya 15, Davao del Sur 82, Davao del Norte 18, Ilocos Norte 15, Ilocos Sur 38, Baguio City 75, Benguet 39, Kalinga 44, Ifugao 22, Mountain Province 12, Abra 15, Bukidnon 43, Cagayan de Oro City 37, Misamis Oriental 27, Misamis Occidental 16, South Cotabato 12, General Santos 12, North Cotabato 24, Sarangani 10, Camarines Sur 26, Albay 42, Naga City 31, Sorsogon 13, Zamboanga del Sur 47, Leyte 19, Agusan del Sur 28, Butuan City 20, Surigao del Sur 17, Mindoro Oriental 26, Palawan 18, and Maguindanao 11.

The National Capital Region was led by four LGUs with triple digits: Quezon City 302, Manila 159, Parañaque 113 and Makati 100. Those with double digits were: Pasig 93, Las Piñas 82, Taguig 68, Muntinlupa 58, Pasay City 53, Caloocan 46, Marikina 42, Valenzuela and Mandaluyong with 37 each, and San Juan 17.

Today, Batanes saw its first COVID-19 case in a very long time.

ICU utilization was at 28.17% and non ICU utilization at 30.1% in the country. In the National Capital Region, where the bulk of healthcare facilities are, ICU utilization is at 33.2% and non ICU utilization at 36.9%. The non ICU use is due to the fact that all the local government units have shut down all their isolation centers. As the cases continue to rise, the healthcare utilization continues to be affected, although not as severely as in the last delta surge.

The Health Agency announces 3181 new cases with a positivity up at 17.9% today and 25 added deaths. The NCR owned 1100 (34.6%) of the day’s cases.

Four LGUs in NCR reported triple digits with QC leading the pack with 254 cases. Manila had 136, Makati 131 and Parañaque 104. The other LGUs with double digits were: Taguig 89, Pasig 75, Las Piñas 59, Mandaluyong 45, Muntinlupa 42, Caloocan and Valenzuela with 37 each, Marikina 29, Pasay City 28 and San Juan 19.

Among the provinces and HUCs outside of NCR, Cavite led with 238 cases. Other triple digit contributions were from: Laguna 185, Rizal 128, Bulacan 113, and Pangasinan 105. Double digits were reported by Batangas 70, Quezon Province 20, Pampanga 99, Bataan 49, Nueva Ecija 46, Tarlac 30, Zambales 12, Negros Occidental 33, Cadiz 11, Cebu 98, Bohol 12, Cagayan Province 98, Isabela 51, Davao del Sur 56, Ilocos Norte 27, Ilocos Sur 30, Baguio City 96, Benguet 15, Kalinga 25, Mountain Province 15, Cagayan de Oro City 36, South Cotabato 10, General Santos City 15, North Cotabato 12, Albay 37, Sorsogon 11, Catanduanes 11, Zamboanga del Sur 21, and Agusan del Sur 20.

The Health Agency announces 2168 new cases with 27 added deaths. This is the first time that we’ve have double digit deaths in a row. The positivity rate is at 17.1%. NCR owned 828 (31.6%) of the day’s cases. Only Quezon City reported triple digits in NCR today with 204 cases. Thirteen other LGUs in NCR reported double digit: Manila 90, Makati 86, Parañaque 68, Pasig 65, Taguig 63, Las Piñas 56, Pasay City 44, Mandaluyong 35, Marikina 29, Muntinlupa 28, Caloocan 27, and Valenzuela and San Juan had 11 cases apiece. Outside of NCR, the provinces only 4 provinces reported triple digits. This was led by Cavite 231, Laguna 185, Rizal 113, and Cebu 103. Those with double digits today were: Batangas 85, Quezon Province 30, Bulacan 75, Pampanga 63, Bataan 27, Nueva Ecija 42, Tarlac 20, Zambales 23, Iloilo 95, Negros Occidental 41, Aklan 15, Antique 17, Negros Oriental 11, Bohol 11, Cagayan Province 67, Isabela 32, Nueva Vizcaya 27, Quirino 11, Davao del Sur 41, Pangasinan 75, Ilocos Sur 15, Baguio City 15, Cagayan de Oro City 18, South Cotabato 16, General Santos City 15, Camarines Sur 19, Zamboanga del Sur 42, Leyte 11, Butuan City 16, Palawan 14, and Marinduque 15.

The Health Agency announces the summary for the week August 1-7, 2022, where 27331 new cases were reported. This is an increase of 13% of cases from the week of July 25 – 31, 2022 where 24100 cases were reported. This puts the 7-day average of the Philippines close to 4,000 new daily cases (3,904). Of the cases this week, 76 were severe and critical. There were 80 added deaths this week with 32 of these deaths or 40% occurring recently (from July 25 – August 7, 2022).

Hospital utilization rate is up with non ICU bed utilization at 30.9% (6648 of 21548 beds) compared to the previous week of 29.5% (6505 of 22051 beds). ICU bed utilization is also up at 24.8% (624 of 2514 beds) compared to 23.3% the previous week (601 of 2583 beds). Total severe and critical admission is at 772 compared to 744 the previous week.

While vaccination accomplishment is slightly up, fully vaccinated individuals is still lagging considering that the vaccination coverage has already been expanded to 5 years old and up. This means that the baseline target population should include the 5 years and up.

Positivity rate this week ended at 18.7%.

Today, the Health Agency announces 4203 new cases with 30 added deaths and the positivity is reset to 16.5% for the start of the week. The NCR owned 34.5% of the cases for the day with 1452 new cases.

The day was led with 15 of 17 LGUs in NCR hauling triple and double digits. Triple digit haulers was led by Quezon City with 314 cases. Others were: Taguig 187, Manila 166, Las Piñas 119, Makati 116, Parañaque 100. Double digit contributors were: Pasig 90, Pasay City 73, Mandaluyong 68, Muntinlupa 52, Marikina 49, Valenzuela 38, Caloocan 33, San Juan 25, Malabon 13.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs had triple digits, led by Laguna with 274 cases. This rest were: Cavite 248, Rizal 166, Bulacan 136, Pampanga 121, Cebu 178, Isabela 102 and Pangasinan 123. Provinces/HUCs with double digits today were: Batangas 94, Quezon Province 37, Bataan 60, Nueva Ecija 65, Tarlac 23, Zambales 14, Iloilo 74, Negros Occidental 66, Aklan 20, Cadiz 16, Negros Oriental 17, Bohol 22, Cagayan Province 68, Nueva Vizcaya 83, Davao del Sur 74, Davao del Norte 12, Ilocos Norte 13, Ilocos Sur 30, Baguio City 71, Benguet 30, Abra 16, Bukidnon 21, Cagayan de Oro City 27, Misamis Oriental 11, Misamis Occidental 24, South Cotabato 14, General Santos 10, Camarines Sur 35, Albay 20, Naga City 27, Camarines Norte 19, Zamboanga del Sur 51, Leyte 15, Tacloban City 14, Agusan del Sur 20, Butuan City 10, Surigao del Sur 18, Oriental Mindoro 14 and Palawan 12.

The Health Agency announces 4621 new cases, 18.7% positivity rate (which has been stable at this level for the past 3 days) and 18 added deaths today. NCR continued to see rising numbers with 1530 of the day’s cases.

Provinces with triple digits were: Cavite 289, Laguna 264, Rizal 174, Batangas 109, Bulacan 130, Pampanga 137, Iloilo 165, Cebu 152, Davao del Sur 118, Pangasinan 141. Other provinces and HUCs with double digits were: Quezon Province 69, Bataan 67, Nueva Ecija 84, Tarlac 81, Zambales 31, Negros Occidental 38, Aklan 17, Cadiz 33, Antique 33, Negros Oriental 22, Bohol 16, Cagayan Province 26, Isabela 48, Davao del Norte 14, Davao de Oro 27, Ilocos Norte 29, Ilocos Sur 27, Baguio City 79, Benguet 37, Kalinga 28, Ifugao 18, Mountain Province 16, Bukidnon 22, Cagayan de Oro City 19, Misamis Oriental 20, Misamis Occidental 24, Iligan City 11, South Cotabato 11, North Cotabato 19, Sarangani 10, Camarines Sur 11, Albay 27, Naga City 24, Masbate 12, Zamboanga del Sur 49, Zamboanga del Norte 14, Zamboanga Sibugay 10, Leyte 19, Tacloban City 10, Agusan Del Sur 28, Butuan City 20, Surigao del Sur 17, Surigao del Norte 11, Oriental Mindoro 23, Marinduque 16.

The National Capital Region was led by two LGUs with more than 200 cases – Quezon City 287 and Taguig 202. Other LGUs with triple digits were: Manila 157, Makati 142, Pasig 127, Parañaque 121, Las Piñas 103. Double digit LGUs in NCR were: Mandaluyong 86, Muntinlupa 65, Pasay City 55, Caloocan 53, Marikina 43, Valenzuela 36, San Juan 26 and Malabon 12.

In the meantime, Prof. Guido David tracks the positivity rate in the National Capital Region, which shows no sign of slowing down and is now at 17.4%.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

East Asia continued to see rising cases this week, with South Korea, Japan, Brunei and Singapore reporting quadruple digits per capita (per million population). Based on actual numbers, Japan now averages close to 220,000 new daily COVID cases (this in spite of the border closure and restriction to tourism in the country). South Korea on the other hand is experiencing another upswing in cases with numbers almost 100,000 per day. Vietnam had an unusually increase in spike in cases over a single day report, but the data out of Vietnam varied tremendously with the state media reporting anywhere from 1500 – 9500 cases for the SAME day. The accuracy in reporting of the data is disturbing. This report today is based on data culled from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus#explore-the-global-situation.

All countries in East Asia are seeing rising numbers, driven by BA.5 and BA.4, with spotty reports of BA.2.75 and BA.2.12.1.

Effective reproduction numbers are above 1.0 in most countries (including the Philippines with Rt ~ 1.2 (+/- 0.05) except for Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan. Nevertheless, these three countries have effective reproduction rate that is close to 1.0 (0.95, 0.92, 0.90, respectively) which points to a more or less flat movement of cases. Like many countries globally, numbers may be artificial depending on the testing and reporting capacity of the these countries.

The Health Agency announces 4328 new cases and 15 added deaths today, with the positivity rate stable at 18.9% (up by only 0.1%). But this could mean many things including late transmittal of PCR results. The NCR owned 30.8% (1334) of the cases today.

Over-all leader in numbers for the day goes to Laguna with 311 cases followed by Cavite with 304. Other provinces with triple digits today were: Rizal 168, Batangas 108, Bulacan 163, Pampanga 159, Iloilo 103, Cebu 108, Pangasinan 101. The double digit contributors among provinces and HUCs were: Quezon Province 76, Bataan 68, Nueva Ecija 70, Tarlac 55, Zambales 33, Negros Occidental 51, Aklan 22, Cadiz 21, Antique 31, Negros Oriental 22, Bohol 13, Cagayan Province 77, Isabela 94, Nueva Vizcaya 24, Quirino 20, Davao del Sur 62, Davao del Norte 13, Ilocos Norte 17, Ilocos Sur 27, Baguio CIty 95, Benguet 26, Kalinga 25, Mountain Province 12, Apayao 17, Abra 18, Bukidnon 16, Cagayan de Oro City 40, Misamis Oriental 19, Misamis Occidental 16, General Santos 14, North Cotabato 13, Camarines Sur 27, Albay 32, Sorsogon 15, Naga City 18, Camarines Norte 14, Zamboanga del Sur 51, Leyte 12, Agusan del Sur 17, Butuan City 16 and Oriental Mindoro 16.

Note that these are only PCR results, so we may not be seeing the real picture of the COVID-19 situation in the country (as in other countries as well).

Remember: when you have symptoms of COVID-19, isolate and test.

The Health Agency announces a new high positivity rate of 18.8% and a new high since February 2022 of 4701 new cases with 1 death added today.

It was Cavite and Laguna that led the haul with 423 and 348 new cases today. Other provinces with triple digits were: Rizal 182, Pampanga 149, Batangas 108, Bulacan 106, Iloilo 145, Cebu 188, Davao del Sur 113, Pangasinan 128.

Those with double digits outside of NCR were: Quezon Province 92, Bataan 53, Nueva Ecija 89, Tarlac 69, Zambales 26, Negros Occidental 44, Aklan 17, Cadiz 38, Antique 22, Bohol 25, Cagayan Province 94, Isabela 59, Nueva Vizcaya 18, Quirino Province 20, Davao del Norte 14, Davao de Oro 19, Ilocos Norte 23, Ilocos Sur 24, Baguio CIty 81, Benguet 26, Kalinga 29, Mountain Province 11, Bukidnon 29, Cagayan de Oro City 37, Misamis Oriental 19, South Cotabato 21, Sultan Kudarat 10, Camarines Sur 10, Albay 32, Sorsogon 14, Naga City 34, Camarines Norte 25, Zamboanga del Sur 32, Zamboanga del Norte 22, Leyte 12, Surigao del Sur 10, Surigao del Norte 10, Oriental Mindoro 30, Palawan 41, Cotabato City 14.

Healthcare Utilization on the national level is at 25.9% for ICU and 29.93% for non ICU cases.

In the National Capital Region where the epicenter of the surge is, the ICU utilization is up at 33.64%, with non ICU utilization at 40.74%, mainly driven by the fact that all the LGUs have closed their isolation facilities already.

In NCR, five LGUs continued to report triple numbers with Quezon City leading with 278 cases, Manila 188, Makati 125, Pasig 118 and Parañaque 110 rounded up the triple digit contributors. Ten LGUs had double digits: Taguig 97, Las Piñas 87, Pasay City 71, Mandaluyong 70, Muntinlupa 49, Marikina 42, Caloocan 40, Valenzuela 25, San Juan 19, and Malabon 13.

The Health Agency announces 4439 new cases, 11 deaths and the positivity rate is up at 18.4%. The NCR owned 1428 of the cases for the day.

Quezon City had the most number of cases in the country with 311 cases today. Other LGUs in NCR that had triple digits were: Makati 159, Manila 157, Parañaque 133, and Taguig 126. Those with double digits were: Pasig 95, Pasay City 84, Las Piñas 77, Marikina 64, Mandaluyong 61, Muntinlupa 46, Caloocan 42, Valenzuela 36 and San Juan 19.

Provinces outside of NCR that had triple digits today was led by Laguna that had 285 cases. The others were: Cavite 216, Pampanga 196, Pangasinan 199, Rizal 161, Cebu 143, Batangas 134, Bulacan 131, Iloilo 115.

Double digits from provinces and HUCs outside of NCR were: Quezon Province 49, Bataan 75, Nueva Ecija 65, Tarlac 66, Zambales 35, Negros Occidental 57, Aklan 16, Capiz 24, Antique 21, South Cotabato 12, Camarines Sur 14, Albay 32, Sorsogon 15, Naga City 15, Masbate 23, Mindoro Oriental 22, Mindoro Occidental 10, Palawan 25, Marinduque 11, Zamboanga del Sur 23, Leyte 12, Agusan del Sur 16, Butuan 12, Surigao del Sur 10, Agusan del Norte 11, Negros Oriental 25, Bohol 35, Cagayan Province 98, Isabela 64, Nueva Vizcaya 65, Quirino 13, Davao del Sur 69, Ilocos Norte 12, Ilocos Sur 21, Baguio City 93, Benguet 25, Kalinga 32, Ifugao 12, Bukidnon 15, Cagayan de Oro City 27, Catanduanes 25.

The Health Agency announces 3047 new cases with 13 added deaths as the positivity rate continued to climb to 18.4% today. The positivity rate is up from a previous day average of 17%. NCR owned one-third of the country’s cases.

Three LGUs in NCR reported triple digits and it was Quezon City that hauled in the most cases today in the country with 231. Makati had 113 while Manila 109. Other LGUs with double digits were: Pasig 79, Taguig 78, Mandaluyong 66, Parañaque 65, Las Piñas 60, Muntinlupa 56, Pasay City 52, Marikina 29, Caloocan 22, San Juan 20 and Valenzuela 18.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces had triple digits: Cavite 179, Laguna 171, Iloilo 153, Cebu 119.

Double digits were seen in Rizal 99, Batanes 80, Quezon Province 23, Bulacan 82, Pampanga 77, Bataan 57, Nueva Ecija 36, Tarlac 41, Zambales 28, Negros Occidental 31, Aklan 20, Cadiz 19, Antique 15, Bohol 22, Cagayan Province 75, Isabela 64, Quirino 16, Davao del Sur 60, Pangasinan 63, Ilocso Norte 26, Baguio City 67, Benguet 32, Kalinga 15, Mountain Province 10, Cagayan de Oro City 40, Misamis Occidental 13, South Cotabato 16, North Cotabato 18, Camarines Sur 15, Albay 28, Catanduanes 19, Zamboanga del Sur 22, Agudan del Sur 16, Oriental Mindoro 18 and Marinduque 13.

The Health Agency announces 2646 new cases for the low Tuesday with 12 added deaths but with a positivity rate that jumped to 17%.

The National Capital Region owned 37.7% of the cases today with 998 cases led by Quezon City with 234. Two other LGUs with triple digits were: Manila 134 and Makati 111. Eleven LGUs with double digits were: Parañaque 91, Pasig 88, Taguig 70, Pasay City 57, Las Piñas 40, Muntinlupa 38, Mandaluyong 36, Caloocan 35, Marikina 23, San Juan 20, and Valenzuela 13.

Two provinces outside NCR reported triple digits with Cavite leading the country with 276 cases and Laguna with 124. Provinces and HUCs with double digit counts for the day were: Rizal 94, Batangas 77, Quezon Province 29, Bulacan 92, Pampanga 74, Bataan 49, Nueva Ecija 43, Tarlac 16, Iloilo 60, Negros Occidental 28, Aklan 12, Cebu 99, Negros Oriental 27, Bohol 30, Cagayan Province 56, Isabela 44, Nueva Vizcaya 16, Quirino 10, Davao del Sur 40, Pangasinan 75, Ilocos Norte 16, Ilocos Sur 14, Baguio City 42, Benguet 11, General Santos 10, Camarines Sur 15, Zamboanga del Sur 18.