605 areas in PH under granular lockdown – Año

An area under granular lockdown in Metro Manila. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 605 areas nationwide are under granular lockdown due to a rise in COVID-19 infections, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday.

This is affecting a total of 744 households composed of 1,233 individuals, Año said in the taped “TalK to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Cordillera Administrative Region posted the most number of areas under granular lockdown, which is 384, followed by the Ilocos Region with 130 areas.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila has only six areas under granular lockdown while Cagayan Valley has 77.

“As they, it’s good news now because the cases continue to drop, but rest assured that we will act quickly if there is transmission in communities,” Año said in Filipino.

As of Feb. 7, there were 116,720 active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.

The country has so far recorded over 3.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, with over 3.4 million recoveries and 54,538 deaths.

The Philippines experienced a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in January, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant and the public’s decreased compliance with health protocols during the holiday season.

READ: PH logs 6,835 new COVID-19 cases; positivity rate at 19.1 percent

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