COVID-19 cases declining in parts of Luzon, Visayas

A Marikina resident takes a selfie while getting a booster shot. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 positivity rates in some areas in Luzon and Visayas are gradually declining and approaching the World Health Organization (WHO) standard for controlled transmission of the virus, with five provinces easing back to moderate risk.

Based on the latest monitoring of pandemic monitor OCTA Research, Bataan posted the lowest positivity rate among Luzon provinces with 6.6 percent, followed by Pangasinan with 8.9 percent and Batangas with 9.2 percent. The three were the only areas in Luzon considered to be at moderate risk.

In Metro Manila, the positivity rate also dropped to 12.1 percent on Sept. 3 from 12.9 percent during the previous week, although the region remained at high risk.

In the Visayas, Cebu province posted the lowest positivity rate at 6.2 percent on Sept. 3, followed by Iloilo with 7.2 percent. The rest of the provinces in the region remained either at high or critical risk.

The positivity rate, one of the main indicators for COVID-19 transmission, is the number of test samples found to be positive for the virus in a given period.

The WHO recommends a positivity rate of below 5 percent for at least 14 days to indicate that the pace of the virus’ transmission is under control.

On Monday, the Department of Health noted that COVID-19 cases in all areas in the country were either plateauing or treading downward, including Mindanao which recently saw a hike in infections.

Most of the cases in the latest genome sequencing run from July 20 to Aug. 22 were of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant, accounting for 83.4 percent of test samples that went through the Philippine Genome Center laboratories.

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