The 7-day average positivity rate is up at 1.7% (from a previous 1.6%). While 0.1% may not matter to some, it does matter because it is the 7-day average (not the daily positivity rate). This means that the previous days, there were more people testing positive (based on the individuals tested). While it is still below the 5% acceptable positivity rate of the WHO, we need to make sure that positivity rate remains low. Remember, the Philippines does not do routine contact tracing anymore and that RT-PCR tests are prioritized to certain sectors.

The Health Agency reports 302 new cases and 70 added deaths today.

The National Capital Region owned 111 of the 302 cases today. It was Pasay City that led with 21 cases (and has the highest ADAR in the NCR at 3.91/100,000 population), with three other LGUs with double digits. They are: Manila 19, Caloocan 14, and Quezon City 12. All other LGUs report single digit numbers with Pateros reporting zero covid.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs report double digits: Cavite 15, Laguna 13, Iloilo 16 (13 province, 3 city), and Davao City 19.

The multiple holidays and upcoming campaign sorties and election fever provide the best scenario for a possible increase in cases.

Gentle reminder to everyone: mask up, keep a distance, stay in well ventilated places, wash your hands always, get vaccinated if you have not and get a booster for those who are eligible (especially those with comorbids and the elderly population).

If you have ANY symptoms for COVID-19, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONGREGATE with other people. Stay home, and get tested.

We are still in the midst of a pandemic.

The Health Agency announces 290 new cases today with 69 deaths added. While the numbers stay below the 300 mark, the public is reminded that this is an undercount of the actual number of people who have COVID19, since testing is now limited and contact tracing is absent.

The bulk of today’s cases come from the National Capital Region (as usual), with 115 cases or 40% of the total share.

Seven LGUs in NCR report double digits today. This is led by the City of Manila and Pasay City with 16 cases apiece. The others include: Quezon City 14, Makati 13, Pasig and Caloocan City 12 each, and Parañaque 10. The rest of the 10 LGUs report single digit cases with Muntinlupa and Pateros reporting zero cases.

Outside of the NCR, the following provinces report double digits: Cavite 14, Laguna 12, Bataan and Tarlac 10, Iloilo 14 (province 9, city 5), and Cebu 12 (city 8, province 4).

In terms of ADAR, the following LGUs in the NCR have >1.0/100,000 population: Pasay City 3.67, San Juan 2.28, Makati 2.08, Parañaque 1.72, and the city of Manila 1.36.

Only one area outside of the NCR has an ADAR >1/100,000 population – Iloilo City 1.13.

Provinces with the highest fatality rates to date are: Aurora Province 5.3%, Cebu province 5.1%, Guimaras 4.6%, Zambales and Davao de Oro 4% apiece, Oriental Mindoro 3.8%, Puerto Princesa 3.6%, Iligan City 3.7%, Negros Occidental 3.4%, Cadiz and Antique 3.3%, Cagayan province 3.1%, and Davao del Norte and Surigao del Sur 3% each. All other regions and provinces with fatality rates < 3% are not listed here.

The Health Agency reports 278 new cases today but the death reports, which are lagging data are piling up with 169 added today.

100 of the cases today are from NCR. Four LGUs in NCR reported double digits. These are: City of Manila 21, Pasay City 17, Quezon City 14, and Caloocan City 12. All other LGUs reported single digit numbers with Navotas and Pateros reporting zero covid.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces reported double digits: Cavite 12, Bulacan 10, and Iloilo 23 (province 21, 2 city).

The Health Agency announces 265 new cases and 52 deaths were added today.

Of the 265 cases today, 78 or 29% are from the NCR.

Only two LGUs in NCR reported double digit cases – City of Manila 14 and Quezon City 12. All the remaining LGUs had single digit numbers with 2 LGUs reporting zero covid. The LGUs in Mega Manila with no covid cases in today’s report are: Valenzuela and Pateros.

Outside of NCR, the provinces with double digit cases were: Cavite 19, Laguna 10, Iloilo 18 (15 province, 3 city), and Misamis Occidental 14.

The Health Agency announces 225 new cases with 5 additional deaths today. The good news is that the positivity rate drops to an all time low of 1.6% (7-day average).

NCR accounted for 36% of the country’s cases today with 81 cases. Three LGUs had double digits and was led by Quezon City with 22, followed by Manila 16 and Caloocan City 11. The rest of the LGUs saw single digit numbers, with the following LGUs reporting zero covid cases in Mega Manila today: Mandaluyong, Marikina, Malabon, and Navotas.

Outside of the NCR, only two provinces had double digits: Cavite 10, and Iloilo 14 (all province).

All other provinces and HUCs (highly urbanized cities) reported either single digit numbers or zero covid.

It was clearly a good week, except for the slight bump up of cases yesterday 04.03.2022.

The Health Agency announces a total of 2679 new cases for the week of March 28-April 3, 2022. This number is only 2% lower than the previous week, putting the 7-day average to 382 cases a day (due to the double number of daily cases yesterday).

Of the 329 deaths added the past week, 116 (35.3%) occurred in the month of March. The rest were backlogs from March 2021 to February 2022.

ICU bed and non-ICU bed utilization remain at very low risk, while there are still 692 cases that are severe or critical in category admitted to the hospital.

Vaccination coverage of the over-all target population stands at 73.47%, with less than half a million getting fully vaccinated last week and a little more than 300,000 getting a booster or additional dose.

The 690 cases yesterday April 03, 2022 were mostly backlogs. Only 328 were recent cases.

Today, the Health Agency announces 276 new cases and 22 added deaths.

The NCR owned 82 of the cases today, with four LGUs reporting double digits. This was led by City of Manila 14, Caloocan City13, Pasay City 12, and Quezon City 11. The rest were single digits with 5 LGUs reporting zero covid. The LGUs with zero covid today are: Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan and Pateros.

Out side of NCR, the following provinces had double digit numbers: Batangas 16, Laguna 13 and Cavite 10. Iloilo had 10 (7 province, 3 city), while Cebu had 18 (7 city, 11 province). Misamis Occidental is the only province in Mindanao with double digits at 11.

The shocker for the Sunday data was the 690 new cases and 19 deaths today.

Almost 50% of the cases are from NCR.

Leading the pack was Quezon City with 62 cases. There are 11 of 17 LGUs with double digits. They are: Pasay City 43, City of Manila 42, Makati 35, Parañaque 28, Pasig 25, Taguig 18, Caloocan 17, Las Piñas and Mandaluyong 11, and Valenzuela 10. The remaining LGUs had single digits and no LGU had zero case today.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs had double digits: Cavite 43, Laguna 20, Rizal 14, Batangas 11, Bulacan 27, Bataan 11, Iloilo 19 (11 province, 8 city), Cebu 25 (city 12, province 13), Isabela 12, Davao City 13, and Zamboanga City 12.

The question is – are the numbers up or is this backlog being reported? Only the Department of Health has the answers.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The week in review starts with a good note for the Philippines as the 7-day average of cases is at 340 cases/day or 3.05 cases per million population. The reproduction rate is stable at 0.76 (+/- 0.05), but needs to continually stay lower in order to see a more rapid decline in cases. Notice that majority of the daily positive cases in the Philippines are from the National Capital Region, which remains the epicenter of the pandemic. While more than 95% of the eligible population is vaccinated in Mega Manila, the daily cases are mainly from this highly dense region. 30-40% of the daily national cases are from here. The

The death toll, while lower this week compared to last week is marred by backlog reports of deaths from August to November 2021 – when delta variant struck the nation. Note that the death reports do not reflect current death cases any longer.

Among countries in East Asian, there is an over-all declining number in daily cases. South Korea, which hit more than 600,000 cases is now seeing an average of 300,000 cases as their reproduction rate hits 0.87.

It is, however, China, that is seeing more cases to date. The 7-day average of China is at 6500 cases a day. Note that China officially reports cases as COVID19 confirmed cases ONLY if the patients are symptomatic at the time of testing. In worldometers.info, that’s the information that is posted. In ourworldindata.org, the data includes ALL cases – both symptomatic and asymptomatic at the time of testing. China is forgetting that patients at the time of testing can progress to symptomatic status later on. For consistency and transparency purposes, all who test positive for the virus should included as a case count – symptomatic or not.

On a per capita basis, South Korea lead with an average of 6000 cases per million population/day, China is at 4.5 cases per million population/day. This rate for China is high, considering that the population of the country is at 1.4B people. Indonesia has dramatically reserved its omicron surge as quickly as the Philippines and has the best effective reproduction number among all the countries in East Asia.

With Thailand’s reproduction rate at 1.11, it now has overtaken the Philippines in global rank of COVID-19 cases. The Philippines goes down one rung and is at number 30 in the world. With Indonesia’s Rt at 0.54, the number of cases are expected to decline further and more rapidly in the subsequent week.

The Health Agency announces 376 new cases and 26 added deaths today, with a 7-day average of 2.0% for positivity tests.

The downside is that as the cases in the country continue to slow down, the NCR accounts for the bulk. Today, the NCR had 149 cases (40%).

Five LGUs posted double digits, with the City of Manila leading the pack with 30 cases. Quezon City and Caloocan had 20 apiece, while Pasay City reported 18 and Taguig City 14. On the flip side is that, while the remaining LGUs in Mega Manila continue to report single numbers, Mandaluyong and Pateros report zero covid cases today.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs (highly urbanized cities) report double digits: Cavite 18, Rizal 15, Bulacan 14, Bataan 12, Iloilo 30 (19 province, 11 city), and Cebu 10 (7 province, 3 city). Other areas report single to zero cases.

No, it’s true. The NCR continues to account for over 30% (with 33% today) of the national cases.

The Health Agency announces 356 new cases and 49 added deaths today. The good news is that the 7-day positivity rate drops to 2.0%.

NCR had 119 cases with three LGUs reporting double digits. This was led by Quezon City 22, City of Manila 19, and Makati 13. All other LGUs have single digit numbers, with Pateros, as the lone LGU in Mega Manila continuing its zero covid streak.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces/HUCs had double digits: Cavite 21, Rizal 19, Batangas 11, Iloilo 10 (all province, city had zero), and Cebu 21 (8 province, 13 city). The other regions/provinces/HUCs had single digit numbers or zero cases.

The Health Agency continues to report low cases with 327 new cases today. The positivity rate is at a low 2.1% as well. However, the number of added deaths are quite disturbing as there are more deaths being reconciled now compared to the past months with 124 added today.

NCR owned 118 (36%) of today’s cases. Five LGUs had double digits, with the City of Manila topping it with 34 cases. The rest of the LGUs with double figures were: Quezon City 17, Caloocan and Pasay City with 12 apiece, and Parañaque 11. The rest of the LGUs in NCR had single digit numbers with 2 LGUs reporting zero covid – Pateros and Navotas.

Outside of NCR, the following provinces or HUCs had double digits: Cavite 20, Laguna 14, Iloilo 23 (province 16, city 7), and Cebu 14 (province 7, city 7). The rest of the country had low single digits or zero covid reports.