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MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga— The provinces of Nueva Ecija and Tarlac were among the areas in Luzon that registered the highest weekly COVID-19 positivity rate as of Dec. 3, the independent pandemic monitor Octa Research disclosed on Monday, Dec. 5.
According to OCTA fellow Guido David, 23 Luzon provinces, including the National Capital Region, posted high and increasing weekly positivity rates.
Nueva Ecija’s positivity rate rose from 32.9 percent on Nov. 26 to 39.1 percent on Dec. 3, while that of Tarlac fell from 36.5 percent to 25.3 percent during the same period, but was still considered high.
The COVID-19 positivity rate is the percentage of tests that turn out positive.
Nueva Ecija ranked first among the Luzon provinces with a current high positivity rate, while Tarlac ranked fifth.
Guido said three other provinces in Central Luzon also registered high positivity rates.
These include Bataan (11.2 percent), Pampanga (10.6 percent), and Zamblaes (10.7 percent).
Data from the Department of Health showed that there were 1,627 active COVID-19 cases in Central Luzon as of Sunday. At least 78 new cases were reported on that day.
Since the pandemic started in 2020, a total of 398,102 people in the region have been affected by COVID-19, based on the agency’s statistics. Of these, 387,814 have recovered from the viral disease, while 8,661 have died. INQ
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