Mindanao, Luzon COVID-19 cases ‘outpace’ NCR Plus infections — DOH

EYES ON THE FORM. Commuters are required to fill out declaration forms, stating their names, travel origin, and destinations at a checkpoint in Tinagacan, General Santos City. Local governments across Mindanao have imposed varying community quarantine measures, in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19 in their respective communities. Photo by Rommel G Rebollido

MANILA, Philippines — The increase in daily COVID-19 cases in the country has been “more evident” in the past week as infection cases in Mindanao and the rest of Luzon have “outpaced” those from the NCR Plus, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

“[Cases in] Mindanao and the rest of Luzon outpaced NCR Plus areas,” Dr. Alethea De Guzman, OIC-Director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, said in an online media forum.

She added that Mindanao cases alone are now higher than cases in Metro Manila, while areas in Luzon outside the NCR Plus are likewise showing a marked increase.

According to De Guzman, the “case increase nationally and across all island groups was more evident in the past week.”

She said that the average daily reported cases in the country were 6,691 from May 27 to June 2, 5,214 from May 20 to 26, 5,827 from May 13 to 19, 6,410 from May 6 to 12, and 7,595 from April 20 to May 5.

The overall average of cases in April was 9,381.

“Average daily cases are now higher than the start of May,” she noted.

However, De Guzman clarified that the increase in national daily cases over the past week was reflected in the epidemic curve as a plateau.

“Noong siya ay dinistribute natin base sa kung kailan nagsimula ang kanilang pagkakasakit, nakikita natin na these are cases which had their onset of illness nitong mga nakaraang linggo lamang,” she explained.

(When we distributed the figures based on the onset of illness, we saw that these are cases with onset of illness in the previous weeks.)

According to the health official, the NCR Plus bubble has shown a slight upward trend of cases, while the Visayas is reporting a gradual increase.

“Plus areas,” on the other hand, was “consistently showing decreased cases but with slight increase over the past week.”

Meanwhile, Cagayan Valley and the rest of Central Luzon “have highest cases and fastest incline,” while cases in the Western Visayas continue to increase at a faster rate. Meanwhile, cases in Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas are showing a gradual increase.

De Guzman said the rise in cases emphasizes the need to continue enforcing minimum public health protocols, as regional officials say the “core” problem in the increase in infections, particularly in Mindanao, was due to non-compliance with health standards.

But despite the increase in COVID-19 cases on the nationwide scale, the percentage of active infections from all the confirmed cases remains below 5 percent, De Guzman noted.

“We want that to stay that way,” she said.

However, the number of severe and critical cases slightly went up from the previous two percent to three percent. De Guzman said this is because patients suffering from severe and critical COVID-19 take a longer time to recover.

The national positivity rate for COVID-19 testing is also showing signs of increase despite a drop of  2.2 percent in the previous week as compared to the preceding week, she added.

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