The Health Agency announces 2360 new cases with no added deaths but a positivity rate of 13.6% today. NCR owned 38% or 893 of the day’s numbers.

Mega Manila was led by three LGUs with triple digits: Quezon City 180, Manila 112, and Makati 107. There were eleven LGUs with double digits: Parañaque 83, Taguig 81, Pasig 75, Las Piñas 48, Pasay City 46, Mandaluyong 40, Muntinlupa 29, Caloccona City 28, Marikina 21, San Juan 18 and Valenzuela 16.

Healthcare utilization is at 27.3% for ICU hospitalization and 32.5% for non ICU hospitalization in the National Capital Region.

Outside of NCR, Cavite led the country with 199 cases and two other provinces from CALABARZON: Rizal 156 and Laguna 137.

The low Tuesday had the following provinces and HUCs reporting double digits: Batangas 93, Quezon Province 36, Bulacan 71, Pampanga 74, Bataan 45, Nueva Ecija 28, Zambales 16, Iloilo 66, Negros Occidental 20, Aklan 12, Cebu 62, Negros Oriental 22, Cagayan Province 31, Isabela 21, Davao del Sur 24, Pangasinan 41, Ilocos Norte 10, Ilocos Sur 11, Baguio City 38, Cagayan de Oro City 16, South Cotabato 11, General Santos CIty 11, Zamboanga del Sur 23, and Butuan 11.

The Health Agency provides a summary of the week of July 18-24, 2022 with total cases for the week up at 19,536 (based on PCR tests only) or an increase of 33% from last week’s (July 11-17, 2022) 14,640 cases. Notice that the cases this week was a large shift to the provinces that are now seeing rising cases of COVID-19. This past week, the Philippines had a 7-day average of 2791 daily cases. Fifty six of the cases this past week were severe and critical while the deaths added this week was 42 (with none occurring from July 11-24).

Vaccination status showed that 91.6% of the target population is now vaccinated while 77.87% of the target A2 (senior citizens) group is covered.

Healthcare utilization in the country for non-ICU beds is at 26% (5804 of 22,331 available) and can be explained by the fact that the LGUs had already closed the isolation facilities or that some patients being admitted for other diagnosis or procedures are testing positive. This is up from 23.8% the previous week. ICU bed utilization is also up at 21.7% (578 of 2,664) compared to last week’s 18.3% (481 of 2630 available beds). The number of severe and critical admissions are at 666, or 8.7% of the total COVID-19 cases. This is up from 589 last week.

The Health Agency announces 2778 new cases and 11 deaths today. The positivity rate is reset as it is the start of the week and is at 11.6%. The NCR continued to dominate the numbers but accounted only for 34% of the cases (942).

Three LGUs in NCR had triple digits led by Quezon City 214, Makati 127, and Manila 105. Eleven had double digits: Parañaque 77, Taguig 76, Pasig 63, Las Piñas 56, Mandaluyong 49, Pasay City 40, Muntinlupa 36, Marikina 28, Caloocan 22, San Juan 21, and Valenzuela 15.

Outside of Mega Manila, Cavite was the province that took the lead in the country with 249 cases. Laguna had 169, Iloilo 127, Pampanga 115, Rizal 115, and Cebu 115. Provinces and HUCs with double digits were: Batangas 73, Quezon Province 35, Bulacan 89, Bataan 38, Nueva Ecija 42, Tarlac 34, Zambales 21, Negros Occidental 18, Aklan 10, Antique 16, Cagayan Province 29, Isabela 24, Nueva Vizcaya 13, Davao del Sur 48, Pangasinan 87, Ilocos Norte 16, Baguio City 46, Benguet 13, Abra 11, Cagayan de Oro City 15, Misamis Oriental 10, Camarines Sur 11, Albay 12, Zamboanga del Sur 28, Leyte 14, and Oriental Mindoro 13.

The Health Agency announces 3657 new cases and 13 deaths with 14.1% positivity today. The NCR owned 1327 (36%) of the cases with CALABARZON owning 911.

In the NCR, five LGUs report triple digits: Quezon City 290, Makati 149, Manila 147, Parañaque 103, and Taguig 100. Nine LGUs reported double digits: Pasig 99, Las Piñas 92, Mandaluyong 66, Pasay City 62, Muntinlupa 46, Caloocan 44, Valenzuela 42, Marikina 34, and San Juan 26.

Provinces and HUCs outside of NCR that reported triple digits today were: Cavite 290, Laguna 250, Rizal 205, Cebu 157, Iloilo 144, and Batangas 130.

Those with double digits included: Quezon Province 33, Bulacan 71, Pampanga 98, Bataan 59, Nueva Ecija 52, Tarlac 42, Zambales 25, Negros Occidental 36, Aklan 20, Cadiz 26, Negros Oriental 15, Bohol 14, Cagayan Province 31, Isabela 36, Nueva Vizcaya 10, Quirino Province 10, Davao del Sur 60, Pangasinan 80, Ilocos Sur 10, Baguio City 37, Mt. Province 13, Cagayan de Oro 17, General Santos 16, Camarines Sur 17, Albay 27, Sorsogon 12, Zamboanga City 15, Leyte 13, Samar 11, Butuan City 11, and Mindoro Oriental 26.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

While the Philippines is recording an increase in cases, the number of cases among the East Asian nations are rising as well. This phenomenon is expected as the world experiences the spread of BA.5 and BA.2.75 sub variants of omicron.

Japan for the first time exceeded the 200,000 daily cases yesterday, while South Korea is seeing an uptick as it rides its third wave, prompting the South Korean government to instill mandatory testing (RT-PCR) on arrival (up to the third day of arrival) in the country. Taiwan and Vietnam are the only countries that are continuing to see a decline in the number of daily cases and the 7-day average. Thailand and Taiwan are the only countries with effective reproduction number (Rt) that is <1.0.

Based on population size, Brunei a country with less than half a million population and has a 7-day average 1,737 daily cases has the higher per capita cases in this part of the world with close to 4000 cases/million population. Its reproduction number is at 1.50.

The Health Agency announces 3604 new cases with 14 deaths and a positivity average of 14.1% today. While NCR continued to haul in the most cases with 1324 (36.7%), it is very clear that the country will continue to see rising numbers in the next few weeks as the provinces outside of NCR are seeing increasing cases. Note that the daily numbers are only from RT-PCR results and do not include those not tested and those that are tested using rapid antigen tests.

The National Capital Region had six LGUs with triple digits: Quezon City 274, Manila 159, Makati 150, Taguig City 121, Parañaque 114 and Pasig 100. Eight LGUs had double digits but saw increasing cases today. They were: Las Piñas 86, Mandaluyong and Muntinlupa with 57 each, Pasay City 53, Caloocan City 43, Marikina 41, Valenzuela 36, and San Juan 20.

Outside of NCR, CALABARZON led the other regions with 929 cases (26%). Cavite led all provinces with 362 cases followed by Laguna 217, Rizal 177, Batangas 122, and Quezon Province 51.

Other provinces that saw triple digits were: Iloilo 144, Pampanga 139, and Bulacan 103.

Provinces and HUCs outside of Mega Manila with double digits today included: Batanes 68, Nueva Ecija 60, Tarlac 36, Zambales 30, General Santos 11, Camarines Sur 12, Albay 14, Zamboanga City 11, Mindoro Oriental 13, Marinduque 10, Negros Occidental 44, Capiz 24, Cebu 96, Bohol 22, Cagayan Province 35, Isabela 44, Davao del Sur 57, Pangasinan 75, Baguio City 56, Mountain Province 11, Bukidnon 18 and Cagayan de Oro City 19.

Health care utilization is at 25.11% for non ICU beds and 18.99% for ICU beds nationwide.

Health care utilization in Mega Manila is up at 35.29% for non ICU beds and 26.14% for ICU beds.

The Health Agency announces 3389 new cases and 15 added deaths today. The 7-day average positivity rate is up at 14%. NCR owned 34% of the cases today with 1169 cases.

The cases today were led by the provinces of Cavite with 283 cases and Laguna with 242. Other provinces and/or HUCs with triple digits outside of Mega Manila were: Rizal 147, Pampanga 125, Cebu 133, Iloilo 153, Batangas 110 and Bulacan 104.

Notice the large shift in cases outside of NCR as almost all provinces/HUCs now have COVID-19 cases. Those with double digits were: Quezon Province 15, Bataan 54, Nueva Ecija 36, Tarlac 37, Zambales 22, Kalinga 10, Mountain Province 18, Abra 14, Pangasinan 80, Ilocos Norte 16, Baguio City 58, Benguet 18, Butuan City 11, Mindoro Oriental 18, Palawan 15, Negros Oriental 24, Bohol 16, Cagayan Province 74, Isabela 23, Davao del Sur 47, Negros Occidental 29, Aklan 17, Cadiz 13, Antique 10, Guimaras 10, General Santos City 10, Albay 16, Naga 11 and Zamboanga City 13.

In the Mega Manila, Quezon City led with 219 cases followed by three other LGUs with triple digits: Makati 156, Manila 143, and Taguig 124. Eleven of the LGUs reported double digits: Pasig 96, Parañaque 77, Las Piñas 69, Pasay City 47, Muntinlupa 45, Mandaluyong 44, Marikina 39, Caloocan 39, Valenzuela 33, San Juan 19 and Pateros 14.

Because the local government units have closed down the isolation facilities, expect the hospitals to slowly get filled up by people who will want or need to get admitted.

Please. If you have not been vaccinated, please get your jabs now. It’s never too late. As for those who have symptoms of COVID, get tested and isolate when positive even if your symptoms are mild. Be a responsible citizen.

The Health Agency announces 2828 new cases with no added deaths and a positivity rate rising to 13.5% today. The NCR owned 35% of the total cases with 1,002 cases today.

Three LGUs in NCR reported triple digits with Quezon City leading the pack with 215 cases followed by Makati 117 and Manila 112. Ten LGUs had double digits: Parañaque 96, Pasig and Taguig with 87 each, Mandaluyong 53, Marikina 50, Las Piñas 48, Pasay City 39, Muntinlupa 30, Caloocan City 25 and Valenzuela City 17.

Outside of NCR, the province of Laguna led with 180 cases today. Other provinces reporting triple digits were: Cavite 167, Cebu 142, Rizal 128, Iloilo 116, and Batangas 107.

The following provinces and HUCs saw double digits: Quezon Province 50, Bulacan 74, Pampanga 97, Bataan 75, Nueva Ecija 32, Tarlac 28, Zambales 32, Negros Occidental 27, Aklan 13, Capiz 20, Antique 11, Mindoro Oriental 17, Negros Oriental 19, Bohol 12, Cagayan Province 46, Isabela 33, Nueva Vizcaya 19, Davao del Sur 30, Pangasinan 49, Ilocos Sur 11, Baguio City 50, Benguet 17, Cagayan de Oro City 17, General Santos City 10, Zamboanga City 19, Camarines Sur 11, Albay 17, Sorsogon 15 and Catanduanes 11.

The common denominator of the provinces with rising cases? The summer tourist destinations…

The Health Agency announces 2074 new cases with no added deaths today. The positivity rate, however, increased to 12.8% as the NCR accounts for 38% of the cases for the day.

The cases in the country were led by Cavite with 178 new cases followed by Quezon City 163, Laguna 143, and Manila 101.

Twelve LGUs in NCR had double digits: Makati 93, Pasig 66, Taguig 63, Parañaque 59, Pasay City 49, Las Piñas 44, Mandaluyong 41, Muntinlupa 32, Marikina 21, Caloocan City 20, Valenzuela 18, and San Juan 14. No LGU in NCR had zero covid.

Provinces and HUCs outside of Mega Manila with double digits were: Rizal 88, Iloilo 91, Cebu 90,, Batangas 73, Bulacan 73, Pampanga 72, Bataan 33, Tarlac 21, Zambales 16, Negros Occidental 26, Antique 11, Cagayan Province 11, Isabela 21, Davao del Sur 30, Pangasinan 38, Ilocos Norte 16, Baguio City 43, Cagayan de Oro City 12, Camarines Sur 10, Sorsogon 11, and Naga City 10.

The Health Agency announces 1841 new cases with no added deaths for the low Tuesday. However, the positivity rate is up at 11.9%, with NCR owning 39% (710) of the cases for the day.

Two LGUs in NCR reported triple digits: Quezon City 185 and Manila 101. Eleven had double digits: Makati 83, Pasig 53, Parañaque 47, La Piñas 46, Taguig 45, Pasay City 39, Muntinlupa 22, Marikina and Caloocan 19 each, San Juan 18, and Mandaluyong 16.

Outside of NCR, only Cavite had triple digits with 147 cases. The following provinces or HUCs had double digits: Laguna 97, Rizal 99, Batangas 69, Quezon Province 22, Bulacan 75, Pampanga 67, Bataan 38, Nueva Ecija 23, Zambales 15, Iloilo 92, Negros Occidental 19, Aklan 19, Antique 10, Cebu 51, Bohol 13, Cagayan Province 16, Davao del Sur 36, Pangasinan 53, Baguio City 16 and Butuan City 11.

We should be around the 2,000 mark again tomorrow.

The Health Agency announces that the total cases from July 11-17 totaled 14,640 (or an increase of 40% from the previous week of July 4-10 where 10,271 cases were logged). This puts us on a 7-day average of 2091 new daily cases.

Health care utilization is also up with non-ICU care at 23.8% (compared to 22.7% the previous week) and ICU utilization at 18.3% (versus 17% the previous week). Note that these numbers represent the whole country and will vary from region, province, and local government unit.

The severe and critical admissions are up at 589 or around 8.7% of total cases of the COVID19 admissions.

There is no official information from the Department of Health on their website. The latest data summary for the week of July 11-17 is from CNN Philippines.

Today, the Department of Health announces 2285 new cases with an 11.2% positivity and no added deaths. The NCR owned 911 of the cases.

It was the provinces (and HUCs) outside of NCR that owned more than 60% of the cases today with Cavite leading with 220 cases followed by Laguna 118 and Pampanga 109. The rest that had double digits were: Rizal 90, Batangas 90, Quezon Province 10, Bulacan 75, Batanes 24, Nueva Ecija 31, Tarlac 25, Iloilo 93, Negros Occidental 25, Aklan 10, Cebu 77 (Cebu City had 47), Cagayan Province 10, Isabela 14, Davao del Sur 37 (Davao City had 30), Pangasinan 87, Baguio City 30, Cagayan de Oro 11, and General Santos 12.

In Mega Manila, Quezon City led the pack with 232 cases followed by Makati with 123. Twelve LGUs had double digits: Manila 89, Pasig and Taguig 81 each, Parañaque 63, Pasay City 49, Las Piñas 38, Muntinlupa 37, Mandaluyong 35, Caloocan 25, Marikina 22, Valenzuela 14, and San Juan 11. Pateros was the lone LGU that reported zero covid in NCR today.

The positivity rate for major areas in the country are shown below (data from Prof. Guido David). While there is moderate growth in positivity rates in some areas including the National Capital Region, Aklan has the highest positivity rate today with close to 2 of every 5 individuals testing positive. Tarlac, Laguna, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga have also breached the 20% positivity rate.

The Health Agency announces 2560 new cases with no added deaths and 11.8% positivity today. The NCR owned 38.6% of the cases (988).

The shift to the provinces is now more obvious as Cavite led with haul of 200 cases today. Other provinces with triple digits all came from CALABARZON, namely: Laguna 166, Rizal 139, and Batangas 103. Double digits for the provinces and HUCs outside of Mega Manila today were: Quezon Province 22, Bulacan 73, Pampanga 90, Bataan 33, Nueva Ecija 43, Tarlac 20, Zambales 11, Iloilo 98, Negros Occidental 33, Aklan 16, Cebu 80, Bohol 15, Cagayan Province 55, Isabela 12, Nueva Vizcaya 17, Davao City 46, Pangasinan 42, Baguio City 11, Benguet province 13, Cagayan de Oro City 18, Zamboanga City 12, Butuan City 14, Mindoro Oriental 14 and Marinduque 11.

In NCR, three LGUs reported triple digits with Quezon City leading with 197 cases, Makati had 118 and Manila 100. Those with double digits were: Pasig and Parañaque with 93 each, Taguig 83, Las Piñas 60, Mandaluyong 56, Pasay City 49, Muntinlupa 47, Caloocan 36, Marikina 29 and Valenzuela 10. No LGU in NCR had zero covid.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The rising global cases of COVID-19 fueled by the omicron sub variant BA.5 (and other sub variants in other parts of the world) is seen (and felt) in East Asia as the cases in this part of the world are seeing dramatic increase in infections. Data is to be interpreted WITH CAUTION as the number of reported cases are based on PCR in most countries and self-testing and self-reporting is not done in many nations, including the Philippines.

Using the effective reproduction number, if the rate is greater than 1, the infection is able to spread in the population. If it remains below 1, then the number of cases occurring will gradually decrease. That is why the Rt is an important indicator of infection control in pandemic. All countries, except Taiwan has Rt>1.0. This is led by South Korea and Japan. The Philippines has a reproduction number of 1.36 (+/- 0.05) as of July 13, 2022.

Japan is on its seventh surge as the number of cases now touch almost 100,000 a day, giving them a 7-day average of more than 73,000/day or 593/million population. South Korea and Taiwan come in second and third with more than 32,000 and 27,000 new daily cases, respectively.

Per capita, it is Brunei, Singapore and Taiwan that had quadruple digits per million population. The Philippines had 16/million population new cases as of July 15, 2022.