FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (red) infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), also known as novel coronavirus, isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/Handout via REUTERS.
MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 positivity rate increased in three provinces, with Isabela’s shooting up at 62.3 percent, according to Octa Research Group fellow Dr. Guido David.
Guido said in a Twitter post on Thursday that Isabela, Oriental Mindoro, and Palawan registered rates “indicating significant levels of infection in those provinces.”
Specifically, the pandemic monitor said COVID-19 positivity rates in Isabela rose from 35.1 percent to 62.6 percent; Oriental Mindoro, from 16.3 percent to 38.5 percent; and Palawan, from 22.6 percent to 25.3 percent between January 7 and 10.
Guido, in explaining the increase, said: “Waves of infection do not occur evenly in the country. Provinces may have different levels of immunity. Omicron subvariants are not the same in each province.”
But for Dr. Anthony Leachon, who once served as an adviser of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, the rise in COVID-19 positivity rates may likewise be attributed to leadership.
“It is leadership driven, too. Leaders implement the minimum health standards and the vaccination and boosters,” commented Leachon on Guido’s Twitter post.
Guido, however, also noted that “positivity rates decreased in most of the country” such as in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) which recorded a 5 percent COVID-19 positivity rate as of January 10 – a drop from 7.9 percent last January 3.
“The last time the positivity rate was below 5% was on June 22, 2022, at the outset of three COVID waves in NCR,” said David.
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