MANILA, Philippines — The national weekly positivity rate for COVID-19 infection jumped to 16.7 percent while maintaining a low-risk classification, said the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday.
This is over triple the World Health Organization’s ideal threshold of 5 percent for positivity rate.
But Vergeire explained that the country remains at a low-risk classification despite the increase in positivity rate.
“Nationally, nanatili pa rin tayong low risk classification na meron pong daily average attack rate na 2.9 cases per 100,000 population,” said Vergeire.
(Nationally, we still remain a low-risk classification with a daily average attack rate of 2.9 cases per 100,000 population.)
Meanwhile, Metro Manila also continues to be at moderate risk classification as it currently has a daily average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 8.16 cases per 100,000 population, said Vergeire.
All other regions, on the other hand, remained at low-risk classification despite a reported increase in the past two weeks.
However, Vergeire noted that nine regions — Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Davao Region — recorded an ADAR ranging from 1 to 1.26 per 100,000 population.
She added that the continuous increase in cases also did not translate into an increase in COVID-19 admissions, as the number of severe and critical cases continues to be below 1,000 with the majority of hospital admissions being a combination of mild and asymptomatic cases.
The healthcare utilization rate also remains at low risk nationwide.
Meanwhile, 71.7 million Filipinos have now been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 9.7 million adolescents, 4.1 million children, and 6.8 million senior citizens.
Over 16.2 million individuals have also been inoculated with their first booster shot, while 1.3 million have received their second booster shot.
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