Davao City has recorded a daily average of 263 new coronavirus cases for the week of June 21 to 27, and its average daily attack rate (ADAR) has surpassed even the most populous cities in Metro Manila and other local governments in the country, according to an OCTA Research report.
The ADAR in the 17 cities in NCR at 4.83 per 100,000 is considered moderate-low risk, but Davao City’s ADAR alone has reached the critical level of 14.47 per 100,000, OCTA said.
Davao City also recorded the highest CFR at 3.43 percent in June this year with a population of 1.82 million, according to data from the Department of Health. This is higher than Quezon City’s record at 1.47 percent, with a population of 3.15 million.
The modified enhanced community quarantine, the second strictest lockdown level, was extended in Davao City until July 15, Malacanang announced Monday. The city has been placed under stricter restrictions since June 5.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown and 21 other areas remained under MECQ until July 15, the Palace said.
Davao City recorded 422 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, raising its total tally to 24,062, with 5,525 active cases, 17,670 total recoveries, and 867 deaths so far.
Aside from Davao City, OCTA also flagged Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Butuan, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and the municipality of Polomolok as “areas of concern.”
As early as June 9, OCTA said Davao City was projected to surpass Quezon City as the metropolis with the highest number of new cases.
On June 17, Davao City logged its biggest single-day COVID-19 infections when it recorded 482 cases, OCTA data showed.
“This is the highest number reported in the city since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and the first time the city reported more than 300 cases in one day,” the research group said.
According to OCTA, from June 13 to 19, Davao City recorded an average of 252 new cases per day, higher than the previous week’s recorded average of 177.
The report emerged as the Philippines logged on Tuesday 4,479 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 1,408,058, as 14 laboratories were not able to submit their data on time, the Department of Health said.
Based on data in the last 14 days, the 14 non-reporting labs contribute, on average, 5.4 percent of samples tested and 6.5 percent of positive individuals.
The DOH also reported 101 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 24,557 across the country.
The latest OCTA Research report issued Monday cited Davao City’s ICU utilization rate (ICUR) has reached critical levels at 93 per cent, the highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report also said that hospital bed utilization rate (HBUR) reached a critical level of 88 percent in Tacloban, while HBUR remained high in Davao City at 70 percent.
“ICU utilization rates (or ICUR) were at critical levels in Davao City, Iloilo City, General Santos, Koronadal and Cabuyao, while ICUR were at high levels in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio City, Tacloban, Tagum, Zamboanga,” said the OCTA report covering June 21 to 27.
The reproduction number in the entire Philippines was 0.92 for the same period, while the National Capital Region was still below 1 or 0.80 over the same period, compared to 0.71 in the preview week.
“The number of new COVID-19 cases in the NCR decreased by 9 per cent to 667 new cases per day, from 731 per day over the previous week (June 14 to 20),” said OCTA Research.
OCTA recommended that the NCR plus should remain under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) considering the low vaccination rate coverage, and the state of COVID-19 in the regions surrounding the NCR.
“We must prevent an NCR plus rebound surge. We can do this by continuing initiatives to expand testing, tracing, and isolation as well as by ensuring strict border controls to prevent the transmission of the virus within and among provinces,” said the research group’s report.
OCTA said the government must also be “Delta-ready,” citing the possibility of the highly contagious Delta variant overwhelming the current healthcare system.
The DOH also reported 6,471 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 1,333,464.
The DOH also reported 50,037 active cases, of which 90.4 percent were mild, 4.4 percent were asymptomatic, 1.5 percent were critical, 2.1 percent were severe, and 1.54 percent were moderate.
The DOH also reported that, nationwide, 55 percent of the ICU beds, 46 percent of the isolation beds, 44 percent of the ward beds, and 36 percent of the ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 43 percent of the ICU beds, 38 percent of the isolation beds, 34 percent of the ward beds, and 34 percent of the ventilators, were in use.
The DOH also reported that nine duplicates were removed from the total case count. Of these, seven were recoveries.
Moreover, 28 cases previously tagged as recoveries have been validated to be active cases and 75 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.