DOH says NCR, 11 other regions ‘high risk’ for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Twelve regions were classified as “high-risk” for COVID-19 as the country continues to battle case surges due to the coronavirus Delta variant, data from the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday showed.

The DOH identified the 12 regions as Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Davao Region, Ilocos Region, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, Western Visayas, Soccsksargen, and Zamboanga Peninsula.

On the other hand, the health agency said Central Visayas, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were under the “moderate risk” classification.

From DOH

DOH data

The DOH classifies a region’s risk level based on its growth rate of cases in the recent two weeks and the average daily attack rate or the average number of new daily cases per 100,000 people.

The country remains at high-risk classification for COVID-19, with 70.97 percent utilization of hospital beds and 76.25 percent utilization of intensive care unit beds.

According to DOH, the country saw an average of 20,959 daily cases from September 6-12; a new peak count and a higher than 18,284 average cases from August 30 to September 5; 16,507 cases from August 23-29, and 14,345 daily cases from August 16-22.

As of Tuesday, 177,670 people in the country are sick due to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

KGA