MANILA, Philippines — The country’s national COVID-19 positivity rate is now at 9.5 percent, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.
“The national positivity rate has increased to 9.5 percent similar to the rates in mid-February (of 2022),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
This positivity rate is now almost double the World Health Organization’s positivity rate benchmark of 5 percent.
The DOH previously pegged the national positivity rate to 6.8 percent on July 5.
Despite this, Vergeire assured that all areas continue to fall under “low risk” classification due to the low number of severe and critical infections of COVID-19, as well as average daily attack rate (ADAR).
The number of severe and critical admissions nationwide, said Vergeire, is still less than 1,000.
FILE PHOTO: Marikina residents receive the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Marikina Sports Complex, Marikina City on Tuesday, May 17. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Vergeire also noted that while the ADAR ranges from 1.3 to 4.44 per 100,000 population in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Western Visayas and CAR, the ADAR in the rest of the country remains at less than 1 per 100,000 population.
“Bagamat patuloy po ang pagtaas, nanatili pa rin na nasa low risk case classification ang buong Pilipinas at lahat ng mga rehiyon nito,” said Vergeire.
(Although the increase continues, the entire Philippines and all its regions remain in the low risk case classification.)
Vergeire also underscored that both the non-ICU (intensive care unit) healthcare utilization and the ICU utilization rate continue to be at low risk level at 22 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
“Looking at the health status of our admissions, more than half are asymptomatic and mild cases,” said Vergeire.