DOH: 89% of provinces, cities under high COVID-19 alert levels

(FILE) Several COVID-19 notices, including the temporary ban on walk-in patients, are posted at the gate of the Philippine General Hospital’s outpatient building in Manila. —LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — Eighty-nine percent of provinces, highly-urbanized cities (HUCs), and independent component cities (ICCs) in the country are now under alert levels 3 and 4 for COVID-19, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday.

According to a presentation of DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman in an online media briefing, 89 percent or 108 of the provinces, HUCs, and ICCs are currently under the two highest alert levels.

“Sa ngayon nakikita natin na karamihan ng ating mga probinsya ay naka-alert level 3 at 4 na. Karamihan sa kanila ay humihigit na ng 70 percent ang kanilang bed at ICU utilization,” De Guzman said.

(Right now, we see that most of our provinces are under alert levels 3 and 4. Most of them already have 70 percent bed and ICU utilization.)

Areas under alert levels 1 to 4 as of August 26, 2021 (Table from DOH)

Based on the DOH metrics, areas are placed under alert level 4 if their risk classification is moderate to critical risk and if either their total healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) or intensive care utilization rate (ICUR) is more than 70 percent.

Alert level 3 is raised for areas with moderate to critical risk classification for COVID-19 cases and have HCUR or ICUR of 50 to 70 percent.

According to De Guzman, unlike the surge in cases in April that was centered in the NCR Plus, the ongoing increase in infections involves the entire Luzon and select regions in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The Philippines currently has 125,378 active COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, according to DOH data.

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