The Health Agency announces 828 new cases today, as the 7-day positivity rate continues to rise and is now at 4.9%. There are also 11 deaths added today. The NCR accounted for 48% of the total cases with 397 for the epicenter of the country.

Fourteen of the 17 LGUs in NCR reported double digits today with Quezon City leading with 60 cases. Other LGUs with double digits were: Makati 49, Manila 46, Taguig 39, Pasig 34, Parañaque 28, Las Piñas 26, Muntinlupa 19, Valenzuela and Mandaluyong 17 each, Pasay City 15, Caloocan City 14, Marikina 13, San Juan 10. No LGU in NCR had zero covid.

CALABARZON had 158 today with Rizal leading with 51 cases, Cavite 46, Laguna 32, Batangas 16 and Quezon province 3.

Other provinces and HUCs that saw rising cases were: Iloilo 55, Bulacan 33, Cebu 40, Pampanga 15, Cagayan Valley 15, Davao City 12, Puerto Princesa City 15, La Union 7, Aklan 8, Cadiz 9 and South Cotabato 6.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The data for East Asia is a mixed bag. Countries with increasing cases at the beginning of the year like the Philippines and Indonesia and saw large respite after 1 1/2 months are now experiencing a bump up in cases. Other countries like Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan are seeing a decline in their cases. On a per capita (cases per million), Taiwan and Brunei have the highest in this region, with Indonesia and the Philippines on an upswing. As of June 25, 2022, the 7-days average for the Philippines is at 629 new cases/day and is expected to continue rising as the 7-day positivity rate moves up to 4.8% (and will most likely exceed the 5% mark the next week). While the numbers are considered low in the region, note that only the RT-PCR cases are being counted. Those who are diagnosed by rapid antigen tests are not included in the daily case count. Most of the cases in the Philippines are seen in the highly urbanized and congested areas, especially the tourist destinations that are now seeing a rise in cases.

The Health Agency announced last week the confirmation of more than 30 cases of BA.5 on genome sequencing. Omicron is still the dominant variant of concern but several sequences indicate that BA.2.12.1 and BA.5 are being reported in higher frequency.

These sub variants are notable in their neutralization escape potential against vaccination and previous infection with other pre-omicron variants and omicron sub variants. [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2206576?fbclid=IwAR0StLGoqB_Ub-5OXBLC81Otz6qvavdT01N48rQeJ42nztqRxaeMrZFHkxY]

The reproduction number is up at 1.53 (+/- 0.05) as of June 20, 2022 and this may continue to rise in the next week or so. This is actually the best time to bring down the Rt because the number of cases are not yet in the four digits. Indonesia is the only country that is ahead of the PH in terms of effective reproduction number.

The Philippines passed the 3.7M mark as the Health Agency announces 777 new cases today. There were no added deaths but the 7-day positivity rate is another notch up at 4.8%.

The NCR accounted for 45% of today’s numbers with 353 cases. Leading the count in Mega Manila and the whole country was Quezon City with 74 cases today. This was followed by 9 other LGUs with double digits: Manila 52, Makati 39, Pasig 31, Taguig 30, Mandaluyong 25, Pasig 23, Las Piñas 21, Pasay City and Muntinlupa with 13 apiece. Navotas was the only LGU in NCR that had zero covid.

CALABARZON saw 165 cases today with Cavite claiming 62. The other provinces in this region were: Batangas 37, Rizal 32, Laguna 25, and Quezon province 9.

Other provinces that saw double digits today were: Iloilo 41, Cebu 40, Bulacan 15, Pampanga 15, and Nueva Ecija 11.

HUCs (highly urbanized cities) with double digits today were Baguio City 13 and Davao City 11.

The province of Isabela reported 8 new cases today.

The Health Agency announces 770 new cases, a tad up from yesterday’s 712 but with 12 additional deaths today. The NCR owned 373 (48%) of the total cases for the day.

The cases in NCR was led by 10 LGUs that had double digits. Quezon City had a new high of 77 cases followed by Manila and Makati with 52 apiece, Pasig 35, Taguig and Parañaque 34 each, Mandaluyong 24, Las Piñas 15, Muntinlupa and Pasay City with 11 each. NO LGU in NCR had zero covid.

CALABARZON had 137 cases today with Laguna accounting for 42, Cavite 36, Rizal 33, Batangas 19 and Quezon Province 7.

Other provinces with double digits today were: Bulacan 12, Pampanga 12, Iloilo 36, Negros Occidental 11, Cadiz 13, and Cebu 36.

Provinces that saw a rise in cases were: Camarines Sur 5, Cagayan de Oro 7, and Antique 7.

7-day Positivity rate remained at 4.7% but is now 5.3% for NCR.

The Health Agency announces 716 new cases with a 7-day positivity rate up at 4.7% today. There are also 11 added deaths to the announcement.

The National Capital Region accounted for 45% for today’s cases (322) with 10 LGUs reporting double digits. Quezon City led the pack with 62 cases, followed by Manila 47, Pasig 42, Makati 37, Parañaque 23, Taguig 22, Las Piñas 22, Caloocan 19, Marikina 11, and Mandaluyong 10. Only one LGU had zero covid today – Malabon.

CALABARZON saw a dramatic rise in cases with 157 today, broken down as follows: Cavite and Batangas 47, Rizal 33, Laguna 27 and Quezon province 3.

In other areas, Iloilo had 46 cases, Cebu 23, Cagayan 11, Baguio City 14, Davao City 9 and Zamboanga City 7.

The Health Agency announces a 7-day average for positivity rate up at 4.6% today, with 593 new cases and NCR accounting for 304 (52%) of the cases. There are also 8 deaths added today.

There were 9 LGUs in NCR that had double digits, led by Quezon City with 64 cases. The others with double figures were: Manila 44, Makati 43, Parañaque 30, Pasig 24, Mandaluyong 21, Pasay City 20, Las Piñas 17, Taguig City 14. Only Navotas and Pateros had zero covid.

CALABARZON dragged 94 cases today with Cavite 31, Laguna 23, Batangas 20, Rizal 16 and Quezon Province 4.

Other provinces that saw double digits were: Bulacan 17, Pampanga 11, Iloilo 33 (25 city, 8 province), and Cebu 22 (7 city, 12 province, 2 Lapu Lapu City and 1 Mandaue).

Other areas that saw increasing cases were: Davao City with 9 and General Santos with 7.

The Health Agency announces 409 new cases today with nine (9) added deaths, as the positivity rate continued to climb (as well as the reproduction number).

The National Capital Region accounted for 218 of the cases (53.3%), with 7 LGUs reporting double digits. These were: Quezon City 66, Manila 26, Makati 24, Parañaque 22, Pasig 17, Taguig 15, and Pasay City 13. Only Malabon had zero covid today.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces reported double digits: Cavite 24, Rizal 14, Laguna and Batangas with 10 each, Bulacan 16, Iloilo 18, and Cebu 14.

Other areas that saw a bump up in cases were: Isabela 5, Davao City 7, Pangasinan 7, and South Cotabato 6.

The 7 day positivity rate is on an increase as it moves quickly from 3.8% yesterday to 4.5% today.

With the increasing reproduction number in the country, being led by the National Capital Region, it was inevitable that we would see rising cases soon. And the for the past weeks, this see-saw in a small drop and a larger rise was expected.

The Health Agency reports 3,051 new cases for the week of June 13-19, 2022. That’s an 82% increase in cases of the week prior to this week’s report where there were 1,682 cases for the week of June 6-12, 2022.

There were 15 cases of severe/critical disease this week compared to 8 the week prior, and 6 additional deaths (none being recent as those reported occurred before June 6) compared to 5 the week prior.

Health care utilization is an important index. The non-ICU bed utilization is down at 18.2% (4,033 of 22,156 beds) this week compared to 20.3% the past week (3,188 of 15,706 beds). Notice, however that in reality, there were MORE non-ICU bed admissions (4,033 vs 3,188) this week than the previous. It is just the denominator changing. That means that there are more non-ICU beds being allocated now than the previous week.

ICU utilization is also down to 14.6% (385 of 2,636 ICU beds) compared to the week prior of 16.6% (345 of 2,078 beds). Notice again, that there are actually MORE ICU bed admission (385 vs. 345) this week than the previous, with the denominator changing from 2,078 up now to 2,636. This means that there are more ICU beds being allocated now than the previous week.

Vaccination against COVID-19 is up at 77.81% (from 77.51%), as more than 272,000 were fully vaccinated from June 13-19, 2022. More than 327,000 individuals availed of the booster or additional dose from June 13-19 (up from 214,142 individuals the week of June 6-12). The A2 population has 77.47% vaccinated (but was not a significant rise when compared to the 77.42% already vaccinated the week prior).

As of this report, the Rt of the country is at 1.65 (+/- 0.05), while NCR is almost 2.0.

The 7-day positivity rate of the Philippines stood at 3.1% as of June 19, 2022.

The DoH announces 529 cases today with 3.8% positivity rate for June 20, 2022. The NCR accounted for 279 (53%) of the cases today. This was led by 12 LGUs that reported double digits. QC led the pack with 59 cases. Makati and Manila had 36 each. Parañaque with 31, Pasay City 18, Las Piñas 16, Marikina and Pasig with 15 each, Mandaluyong with 13, Caloocan with 11 and Taguig and Muntinlupa with 10 apiece. Only Pateros had zero covid today.

Outside of NCR, CALBARZON had 83 cases (Cavite and Laguna 26 each, Rizal 20, and Quezon with 11). Other provinces that saw double digits were: Bulacan 14, Pampanga 11, Bataan 10, Iloilo 19, and Cebu 11.

The Philippines breaches the 600 mark with 612 new cases today, 293 (48%) from the National Capital Region. The 7-day positivity rate is up at 3.1% today. No added deaths were reported by the Health Agency.

Eight LGUs in NCR had double digits today. This was led by Quezon City with 71 cases. The others with double numbers were: Makati 41, Parañaque 33, Manila 31, Pasig 29, Taguig 24, Las Piñas 12, and Mandaluyong 10. While the rest had single digits, many had more than 5 cases. Only Navotas and Pateros reported zero covid.

CALABARZON had 78 cases with Cavite 26, Rizal 21, Laguna 20, Batangas 9 and Quezon 2.

Other provinces/HUCs with double digits today were: Bulacan 14, Iloilo 50 (province 20, city 30), Cebu 29 (15 from Cebu City), Negros Occidental 11 (Bacolod City 4), and Baguio City 15.

Others with a bump up in cases were: Cagayan 7, Benguet 7, and Palawan 6.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The rundown for the week has the Philippines reporting a higher than the previous week cases. As the number of cases now surpass the 500 mark, the 7-day average as of June 18, 2022 was at 391 new cases/day.

While the country may proudly claim to have the lowest cases in the region (aside from China) yet, in terms of both number of daily cases and per capita (per million population), we are the only country whose effective reproduction number is on the rise. While the Rt is only slightly up, all efforts must be exerted at pushing the Rt lower without creating problems with the current economic situation.

There is a need for the citizens to ensure that they heed the government’s reminder of getting fully vaccinated and when needed, get their booster shots. While it is understood that people have their own choices on whether they would want to get vaccinated or not, the pandemic is an over-all scenario where health and economy need to co-exist. Tipping the balance towards one side when resources are scarce is not helpful to the situation.

The Health Agency announces 585 new cases today, with no added deaths. NCR accounted for 266 of the cases as the positivity rate is on a slight uptick at 3%.

In NCR, 7 LGUs had double digits today, with Quezon City remaining in the forefront with 68 cases. Others with double numbers were: Makati 39, Manila 33, Pasig 24, Parañaque 22, Mandaluyong 19, and Taguig 16. While other LGUs saw single digits, majority of them were 5 or more cases. Only Pateros had zero covid today.

Outside of the NCR, CALABARZON breached 100 cases with 103 new cases added today. This was led by Cavite with 43, Rizal 25, Laguna 24, Batangas 10 and Quezon 3.

Other provinces with double digits were: Bulacan 26, Pampanga 13, Iloilo 29 (city 17, province 12), Negros Occidental 10 (with half coming from Bacolod City), Cebu 14 (with 5 coming from Cebu City), and Palawan 10.

Other provinces/HUCs which saw slight upticks were: Maguindanao 5, Southern Leyte 5, South Cotabato 8, and Pangasinan 8.

The Health Agency announces 539 new cases with 6 added deaths today. The NCR owned 282 of these cases. Positivity rate in the country is up at 3%.

In Mega Manila, 9 LGUs reported double digits led by Quezon City with 66 cases today. The rest with double numbers were: Pasig 40, Manila 38, Makati 26, Parañaque 21, Mandaluyong 18, Taguig 17, Las Piñas 16, Muntinlupa 11. Only Navotas had zero covid today.

Outside of NCR, CALABARZON had 74 cases led by Cavite 29, Rizal 15, Laguna 14, Batangas 9, Quezon 7.

Other provinces with double digits were: Iloilo 26 (city 15, province 11), Negros Occidental 19 (Bacolod 14, province 5), Cebu 21 (Cebu City 14).

Baguio City had 9 cases today.