The COVID-19 positivity rate has gone down in the National Capital Region (NCR) but is “very high” in several provinces, independent monitoring OCTA Research Group said Thursday.
In a tweet, OCTA fellow Guido David said the positivity rate in the NCR dropped from 17.9 percent on Oct. 8 to 15 percent on Oct. 11.
However, David said the positivity rates are “very high” in Tarlac (51.8 percent), Camarines Sur (46.2 percent), Zambales (33.6 percent), South Cotabato (26.2 percent), Cavite (22.6 percent), Laguna (22.2 percent), and Rizal (21.2 percent) as of Oct. 11.
The positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday noted an increase in COVID-19 daily tally with 2,883 new cases logged, while the active infections climbed to 25,293.
This was an increase from 1,623 new COVID-19 cases recorded on Wednesday and came after two days straight of less than 2,000 daily reported COVID-19 cases.
The DOH said the active cases also went up from 24,283 on Wednesday.
The nationwide COVID-19 tally is at 3,975,884, it added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the release of digital COVID-19 vaccine certificates under VaxCertPH continues, even though the government’s contract with the software developer has expired.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the contract expired on Sept. 30, but his department is looking for funds to keep it running.
Also on Thursday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged officials of the country’s 42,046 barangays to take advantage of the barangay assembly days set for this month to encourage their constituents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said barangay chiefs must take advantage of the village assembly to discuss the advantages of getting boosted and vaccinated against COVID-19 and invite the citizens to partake in government vaccination campaigns such as PinasLakas.
He also said they must inform the public that COVID-19 booster shots are now accessible in their workplace, transportation terminals and drug stores.
As of Oct. 11, 20,195,895 Filipinos have been administered withCOVID-19 booster shots while 73,342,216 have complete initial vaccination status and 70,756,003 have had their first dose.
In other developments:
• The DOH said the new Omicron subvariant, also known as XBB, has not yet been detected in the Philippines. The XBB variant, a recombinant of the BJ.1 and BM.1.1.1, is said to have a higher immune evasion ability, the DOH said. The XBB variant is driving new infections in some parts of the world, including Singapore. The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Singapore reported this week an increase in local casesdriven by XBB, including a post-weekend spike on Tuesday. But the MOH in the same statement dismissed rumors circulating online that Singapore is experiencing a rapid and large increase in cases of severe illness and deaths due to the circulating XBB strain. The ministry also noted there is no evidence that the XBB variant causes severe illness.
• The Australian government has donated 864,000 doses of the Pfizer brand COVID-19 vaccine intended for children, the Manila International Airport Authority announced on Thursday. The shipment arrived Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Terminal 3 via Air Hong Kong flight LD-456.