Relative Joy

The Health Agency announces 289 new cases (as predicted in yesterday’s blog that we would hover around 250-300 cases because only 3860 individuals were tested on Christmas Day). Positive rate continued to decline to 7.1% and there were added 19 deaths.

NCR continued to lead with 40% of the total cases. Only four LGUs had double digits – Quezon City 30, Manila 19, Makati 14 and Pasig 13. San Juan, Navotas and Pateros all reported ZERO COVID.

In the provinces only five provinces reported double digits and all were less than 20 cases – Cavite 16, Iloilo 13, Bulacan 12, Laguna 11 and Pampanga 10. All other provinces had single digit cases or ZERO COVID.

With close to 8,000 individual tested on December 26, tomorrow will have around 500 cases.

The Health Agency announces 636 cases with a reboot of the positive rate to a low of 7.3% (because it is a Monday). There were, however, 26 added deaths. Only 3860 individuals had PCR tests done on Christmas Day, which may mean that we should be seeing between 250-350 cases on the low Tuesday tomorrow.

NCR continued to lead the pack with 42% of the cases for the day.

Quezon City reported 50 cases followed by Makati with 32. The other LGUs with double digits and less than 30 cases in Mega Manila were: Taguig 24, Pasig 23, Manila 20, Las Piñas 18, Parañaque 17, Muntinlupa 15, Mandaluyong 14, Pasay City and Valenzuela 11 each, and Caloocan 10.

Only two provinces reported more than 30 cases – Rizal with 35 and Cavite with 33.

Healthcare utilization is at all time low with 17.6% occupancy of non ICU beds and 19% occupancy of ICU beds in the country.

The Health Agency announces 666 new cases with 10.3% positive rate and 21 added deaths. Note that only 6,252 PCR tests were done on December 24, 2022, accounting for the very low cases on a Sunday. With the very long holidays, expect low triple digits the next few days.

NCR continued to lead the pack with 255 cases in the region (38%). Quezon City led the haul with 57 cases. This was followed by Manila 29, Taguig 26, Makati 23, Pasig and Caloocan 19, Parañaque 17, Las Piñas 12, and Marikina 10.

Three provinces in CALABARZON reported more than 30 but less than 50 cases. They were: Cavite 45, Laguna 40 and Rizal 38.

The data is not what it really seems. And with long holidays ahead, the more the data is obscured.

THE GLOBAL DATA AS OF 18 December 2022 (DEC 21, ED 123, WHO PUBLICATION)

The number of new weekly cases is slightly up for the week of December 12-18, 2022 by 3%. The number of new weekly deaths is 6% down compared to the previous week. Remember that the reporting system globally are underestimates of true global infections and reinfections as shown by prevalence surveys. Hence, the data should be interpreted with caution due to progressive changes in testing and reporting strategies, resulting in lower number of tests done, detected and reported.

At the regional level, cases are up in the Western Pacific Region (8%) and Region of the Americas (18%). Deaths are also up in these regions with the Western Pacific Region reporting 7% higher and Region of the Americas 3% higher cases.

At the country level, highest cases came from Japan (>1M cases up at 23%), South Korea (close to 500,000 up by 9%) and Brazil (>337,000 cases up by 74%). Highest deaths were from USA, Japan, Brazil, France and Italy. Brazil saw an 88% increase in deaths and Japan 19%.

The Health Agency announces 834 new cases with 10.4% positive rate and 22 added deaths on Christmas Eve. NCR continued to lead with the daily haul with 323 (39%) of the cases.

In the NCR, Quezon City led with 77 cases followed by Manila with 37. Other LGUs with double digits were: Parañaque 28, Pasig 26, Caloocan 21, Makati 19, Taguig 18, Mandaluyong 16, Muntinlupa 15, Las Piñas 12, Valenzuela and Marikina with 11 each.

Four provinces had more than 30 but less than 50 cases: Laguna 43, Rizal 40, Cebu 39 and Bulacan 33.

Counting down to the last 7 days of featuring the daily COVID19 data in this blog site. Beginning next year, there will only be a weekly report during Sundays.

The Health Agency announced only 850 cases today with positive rate at 10.5% (secondary to the very low testing at 9710 yesterday). As the long holiday draws to a close today, there definitely will be very few cases due to the low testing the next few days. There were 21 added deaths.

NCR continued to dominate the numbers, accounting for 354 of the cases (42%) of the day. More than 1/4 of the cases in the NCR (26%) belonged to Quezon City alone with 93. The other NCR LGUs with double digits were: Manila 35, Valenzuela 29, Caloocan and Pasig 27 each, Makati and Taguig 25 each, Parañaque 22, Mandaluyong 18 and Las Piñas 16.

Only two princes had more than 30 but less than 50 cases: Cavite 45 and Laguna 37.

I understand that everyone is in a festive move, and the economy attempts to bounce back. It is also important to remember that the virus is in a festive mode as well with all the gatherings. Let’s not forget to practice minimum health standards while enjoying the holiday season.

The Health Agency announces 1031 new cases with 30 added deaths and a positive rate of 10.4%. NCR continued to lead but owned a lower percentage (37%) of the day’s cases with 377 added today.

Quezon City led with 88 cases, Manila 46, Makati 44, Taguig 42 and Parañaque 35. Other LGUs in Mega Manila with double digits were: Caloocan 27, Pasig 18, Muntinlupa 14, Las Piñas 13, Mandaluyong 12 and Pasay City 10.

In the provinces, Laguna led with 48 cases followed by Cavite 47, Rizal 45, Bulacan 28 and Cebu 30.

As the people make an exodus of NCR due to the holidays, will we see the uptick of cases shift to the provinces?

The Health Agency announces 823 new cases with 15 added deaths and a positive rate of 10.5%. Total PCR tests reportedly done yesterday were 11,402 (meaning we are underestimating the numbers and the prevalence of COVID-19 in the country).

NCR led with 339 (41.2%) of the day’s tally, with Quezon City owning 88 and Manila 53 cases. Other LGUs with double digits were: Pasig 30, Taguig 29, Makati 24, Caloocan 20, Parañaque 17, Valenzuela 17 and Pasay City 11.

Three provinces reported more than 30 but less than 50 cases. All were from CALABARZON: Laguna 46, Cavite 40, and Rizal 35.

The Health Agency reported 626 new cases with positive rate continuing its decline to 10.1% from 10.3% yesterday. There were, however, 33 added deaths.

NCR contributed to 41% (258) of the cases for the day. This was led by Quezon City with 65. The other double digit LGUs in NCR were: Manila 39, Caloocan 22, Makati 18, Taguig 17, Pasig 16, Parañaque 15, Muntinlupa 14, Valenzuela 12, and Las Piñas and Mandaluyong 10 each.

Outside NCR, only two provinces posted more than 30 cases. They were: Cebu 33 and Cavite 32.

The Health Agency announces 863 new cases with positive rate reset to 10.3% today. Note that the number of tests done yesterday only amounted to 8000. The prevalence data does not depict the real picture of COVID-19 in the country, hence, precaution is still highly recommended during the long holiday ahead.

There were 30 added deaths today.

NCR owned 338 (39%) of the day’s cases, with Quezon City leading with 82 followed by Manila with 50. LGUs with double digits in Mega Manila were: Makati 25, Parañaque 22, Valenzuela 21, Caloocan 20, Las Piñas 19, Mandaluyong and Muntinlupa 17 each, Pasig 15 and Taguig 13

Outside NCR, only three provinces had more than 30 cases – all from the CALABARZON area. They were; Cavite 59, Laguna 50 and Rizal 41.

The Health Agency announces, surprisingly a low Sunday with 973 new cases and 30 added deaths with a positive rate that drops a tad to 12.4%. Note also that the number of individuals tested yesterday was down to around 10,000. NCR continued to take the haul with 406 cases (42%) of the day.

This was led by Quezon City with raked in 94 new cases. The rest of the LGUs in NCR continued to have less than 50 cases: Manila 46, Pasig 45, Taguig 33, Parañaque 31, Las Piñas 25, Makati 23, Caloocan 20, Mandaluyong 19, Marikina 18, Pasay City 17 and Muntinlupa 14.

Provinces outside of NCR also posted less than 50 cases with only 3 provinces reporting more than 30 cases. They were: Cavite 46, Rizal 47, and Laguna 34.

THE GLOBAL DATA as of 11 December 2022 (DEC 14, ED 122, WHO PUBLICATION)

The number of new weekly cases remained stable, although is slightly up at +2% for the week of December 5-11, 2022. Number of new weekly deaths reported, however increased by over 10% versus the previous week with almost 10,000 deaths added.

At the regional level, number of cases continued to increase in the Western Pacific Region by 3% and the Region of the Americas by 27%. The number of newly reported weekly deaths increased in the African Region up by 975% (partly due to batch reporting from South Africa), the Region of the Americas by +37%, Eastern Mediterranean Region +81% and Western Pacific Region +5%.

At the country level, the highest number of new weekly cases were reported from Japan (almost 850,000 new cases or +13%), USA (almost 450,000 new cases, +50%), Republic of Korea (more than 420,000 cases, +13%), France (down by 5%) and Brazil (up by 3%).

Highest number of weekly deaths came from the USA (+62%), Japan (+28%), Brazil (-5%), France (+4%) and Italy (-29%).

Reiterating that the current trends are to be interpreted with caution as several countries have progressively changed COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower numbers of tests performed and hence, lower number of cases detected. Prevalence surveys are highly underestimated versus the actual number of infections in the population.

Updated information on number and percentage SARS-CoV-2 sequences from June 1 to December 12, 2022 globally shows that the predominance of the Omicron sister-lineages and additional Omicron VOC descendant lineages under further monitoring. Currently, predominant lineages are: BQ.1 (33.89%), BA.5 (18.26%), BA.5 + 5 mutations (16.87%), BA.2.75 (7.21%), and XBB (3.77%). The rest are either unassigned, others or other Omicron lineage.