The slight increases in COVID-19 positivity rate should not be a cause of concern now as the hospital admissions for severe and critical cases remain low, an infectious diseases expert said Monday.
Dr. Rontgene Solante made the remark after OCTA Research recorded an uptick in the National Capital Region’s (NCR) positivity rate from 2% on January 26, to 2.4% on January 27.
Positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested. Solante also said that any surge or spike in COVID-19 infections may mean that a new variant or Omicron subvariant may have entered the country, thus continuous monitoring is important.
Last week, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that hospital admissions in the country have become manageable with COVID-19 no longer among the Philippines’ top 10 causes of deaths.
Despite this, Solante still encouraged people to get vaccinated and boosted, and comply with the minimum public health standards, especially masking.
The DOH reported that the country’s tally of active CO ID-19 cases fell below 10,000 on Sunday. The tally of active cases fell to 9,982, lower than the 10,038 reported on Saturday—the lowest in nearly seven months since the 9,703 active cases monitored on July 3 last year and the first time since that day that the total was below 10,000.
The country also had 1,206 new COVID-19 cases in the past week and 74 deaths, the DOH said. As of Sunday, 456 cases or 9.5 percent of total COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the DOH said.
The NCR reported the highest number of cases in the past two weeks with 806. Calabarzon followed with 421, Western Visayas with 256, Central Luzon with 198, and the Davao region with 195.
The DOH further reported that the Philippines will be receiving a donation of bivalent COVID-19 shots from vaccine-sharing facility COVAX
Vergeire did not divulge the exact number of jabs to be donated, saying some agreements had to be finalized. Other countries have also pledged to donate bivalent COVID-19 shots to the Philippines, she said..
The DOH in December said that negotiations with manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna are under way for the purchase of the bivalent COVID vaccine, which target both target the omicron variant and the original form of the virus.
The agency has also asked President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for a special authorization for the procurement of bivalent vaccines.