The cities of Pasay, San Juan, and Makati have the top active COVID-19 cases in the NCR Plus Bubble, according to numbers obtained from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the latest census, Pasay tops the list at 1,122 cases per 100,000 people, with a last recorded city population of 417,000. This equates to approximately 1.12% of the entire city population.
Following is San Juan with 1,070 active cases per 100,000 people, with a city population of 122,000, which equates to 1.07% of the entire city population.
Third is Makati with 952 active cases per 100,000 people – and with a city population of 583,000, this equates to 0.95%.
“When reporting statistics for COVID-19 active cases, local authorities and epidemiology units get the most accurate readings of their cities in relation to others not by looking merely at the number of cases, but on a population density basis,” explained Dr. Noel J. Miranda, former ASEAN Regional Coordinator for Multi-sectoral Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
“According to these statistics, the city of Makati, which is nearly four times as populous as San Juan, has less cases per 100,000 people. San Juan has fewer absolute numbers of cases but, in terms of population density, it has more cases than Makati, Quezon City, Paranaque, and all the provinces included in the NCR Plus bubble — as per this data,” he added.
Miranda went on to note that all cases should be interpreted in proportion to the total population at risk.
The Department of Health reported 11,028 additional confirmed cases on Easter Sunday, the third consecutive day in which more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded.
The national government extended the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) for one more week, until April 11, for the NCR Plus bubble due to the spike in cases.