MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is closely observing the COVID-19 situation in Zamboanga Peninsula as its average daily attack rate (ADAR) nears high risk.
Dr. Alethea De Guzman, OIC-Director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, said Tuesday that the ADAR of Zamboanga Peninsula from May 2 to 15 was at 6.10.
“Ang isang mahigpit nating binabantayan ay ang Region 9 kasi ang kanyang ADAR ay malapit na sa high risk,” she said in an online media forum.
(We are closely monitoring Region 9 because its ADAR is nearing high risk.)
De Guzman said Zamboanga Peninsula is also among the 10 regions in the country that posed a positive growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.
Since the past four weeks, the ADAR in Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, and Calabarzon are also considered high risk. However, De Guzman noted that the ADAR in the said regions have decreased significantly in the past two weeks. For instance, the ADAR in Metro Manila is now only 13.44 from May 2 to 15 compared to the 24.97 from April 18 to May 1.
ADAR is considered high risk if it is more than seven, according to the health official.
ADAR is the average number of new cases per day over a two-week period, divided by the population of a concerned area. The DOH computes the ADAR based on a 100,000 population. The higher the ADAR, the higher the risk for getting infected.
Data from the Department of Health
Data from the COVID-19 tracker of the DOH showed that Zamboanga Peninsula currently has 2,153 active cases, including 317 cases reported on Monday.
As to the COVID-19 situation in the country, De Guzman said all regions are currently at either moderate or low risk.
“Wala na tayong high risk na regions. Lahat sila either low or moderate (We don’t have high risk regions. All of them are either at low or moderate risk),” De Guzman said.
The country has a total of 54,235 active cases as of Monday, including additional 5,979 cases.
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