Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal now covered; infections hit 2-month high 5,434
The government expanded coronavirus restrictions Wednesday to include more than 11 million people living in provinces near Metro Manila as COVID-19 cases surge.
Daily infections have spiked to a two-month high in January and the Health Department warned of higher caseloads in the coming days following the detection of local cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal surrounding Metro Manila have been placed under Alert Level 3 “due to a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases,” acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said Tuesday.
Under the tighter restrictions, which will be in place until mid-January, unvaccinated residents have to stay at home unless buying essentials or exercising.
Restaurants, parks, churches and beauty salons will operate at lower capacity while in-person classes and contact sports are suspended.
The order comes a day after Manila went to Alert Level 3.
Around 70 percent of residents in Metro Manila are fully jabbed but less than half the national population is fully vaccinated, according to government data.
“We did initial estimates. The assumptions would be … Omicron is eight times more transmissible than Delta, and that the peak will happen at the end of January,” Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines.
“It will be more than the numbers we saw during the Delta peak,” she added.
The Department of Health (DOH) has deemed the entire country of 109 million at “high risk” following a spike in cases in recent days, Vergeire said, even as hospitalizations remain under control.
Before the tighter quarantine rules, the Philippines had been under its second-lowest alert level since Dec. 3 as cases fell, which allowed restaurants and indoor venues to ramp up capacity and in-person classes to resume on a limited basis.
The Philippines has recorded over 2.8 million infections and more than 51,000 deaths.
The country logged 5,434 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,861,119.
The positivity rate rose to 26.5 percent, from a previous 20.7 percent a day before, with 25,704 total conducted tests on Jan. 2.
This positivity rate is the highest since Sep. 15 last year, and much higher than the rate deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO) of under 5 percent.
The number of new infections is the highest reported in over two months or since Oct. 23 last year.
The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were Metro Manila or National Capital Region, with 3,826 or 71 percent; Region 4-A or
CALABARZON, with 864 or 16 percent; and Region 3 or Central Luzon, with 333 or 6 percent.
There were 18 new fatalities reported, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 51,604.
The DOH also reported 611 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 2,779,706.
There were 29,809 active cases, of which 889 are asymptomatic; 24,026 mild; 3,020 moderate; 1,546 severe; and 328 critical.
Nationwide, 26 percent of ICU beds; 27 percent of isolation beds; 19 percent of ward beds; and 14 percent of ventilators, were in use.
In Metro Manila, 35 percent of ICU beds; 32 percent of isolation beds; 36 percent of ward beds; and 20 percent of ventilators, were in use.
A total of 16 areas in Metro Manila are under granular lockdown asAlert Level 3 has been raised in the National Capital Region (NCR) from Jan. 3 to 15, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.
PNP data showed that 14 areas are under the jurisdiction of the Northern Police District and one each for the Manila Police District and Southern Police District.
Nationwide, the number of areas under granular lockdown also increased from eight to 27, including the NCR, Mimaropa, and the Cordillera regions.
NCR Police Office (NCRPO) Chief, Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., reiterated his call for the stricter implementation of guidelines and health protocols to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“We will be strict in the implementation of laws and ordinances to protect our citizens from this deadly virus,” Danao said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Benhur Abalos, said mobility restrictions on unvaccinated people in Metro Manila is just temporary, as some groups voiced human rights concerns.
Presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said he supported these mobility restrictions.
“It’s not that we are depriving them of their rights to movement. We are protecting them from getting infected,” he said Tuesday during an online briefing.
He urged all local government units to follow the lead of Metro Manila LGUs as they implement mobility restrictions for unvaccinated constituents as soon as possible.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) also supported the restrictions on unvaccinated people, noting that the same prohibitions were applicable to people under the age of 17, senior citizens, pregnant women and comorbidities.