Metro Manila at minimal risk for COVID-19 — DOH

Parents accompanying their children scheduled to be inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), queue during the vaccine rollout for children with comorbidities, in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines, October 15, 2021. (REUTERS)

MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila continuous to improve as the region is now placed under minimal risk classification for the disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

Based on DOH data presented in an online briefing, Metro Manila is now considered a minimal risk for COVID-19, joining 13 other regions.

Currently, only Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Zamboanga Peninsula remain at low risk.

COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila LGUs as of December 9, 2021 (Data from Department of Health)

The Philippines, meanwhile, is still classified minimal risk for the disease.  

According to DOH, Metro Manila has posted a negative 22.81 percent seven-day growth rate of cases. Its average daily attack rate from November 26 to December 9 is at 0.97 per 100,000 individuals.

Meanwhile, the hospital bed utilization rate in the region was at 21.11 percent while its intensive care unit utilization rate is 29.31 percent as of December 8. Both figures for hospitalization are considered low risk.

All local government units in Metro Manila are at minimal to low risk classification for COVID-19.

The cities of San Juan, Pasig, Parañaque, Valenzuela, and Malabon posted a positive growth rate of cases from December 3 to 9 as compared to the previous week.

Metro Manila has 2,220 active COVID-19 cases, while the entire country has 12,169 active cases as of Thursday, based on the DOH tracker.

Independent analytics team OCTA Research earlier classified Metro Manila as “very low risk” for the pandemic.

OCTA and the DOH, however, use different criteria and metrics for classifying risk levels.

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