Quezon City positivity rate down to 4%

MANILA, Philippines — The number of new COVID-19 cases in Quezon City continued to decline, based on the latest monitoring conducted by the OCTA Research Group.

Citing data from the city epidemiology and disease surveillance unit, the group noted that the positivity rate – which shows the number of individuals who tested positive out of the total tests conducted – has dropped to four percent for the week of Nov. 5 to 11.

It was down from the six percent recorded from the week prior and is below the five-percent threshold for the reopening of the economy that was set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The latest OCTA report for the city also showed an average of only 65 new cases per day from Nov. 10 to 16, down from 91 in the previous week.

“Finally, after months of continuous fight against this pandemic, our numbers show great improvements. We are hopeful that this precedes our ultimate goal of being a COVID-free city,” said Mayor Joy Belmonte.

She said they will abide by the recommendation of the experts, who noted the WHO recommendation that a positivity rate of five percent or below must be sustained for two consecutive weeks before relaxing quarantine protocols.

“We will not be lax in implementing basic health protocols such as wearing face masks and face shields and social distancing. We want to ensure that while we are celebrating our holidays, there will be less or no further infection,” she said.

138 Caloocan barangays COVID-free

The number of barangays cleared of COVID-19 has increased to 138 in Caloocan, Mayor Oscar Malapitan said yesterday.

Malapitan said of the city’s 188 barangays, at least 138 have reported zero active cases. This was an increase from 106 COVID-free barangays reported during the first week of November, he added.

At least 11,596 residents have recovered from the virus.

There are 12,070 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Caloocan as of Sunday.

No more cases in Baclaran

The densely populated Barangay Baclaran in Parañaque City no longer has COVID cases, Mayor Edwin Alvarez said yesterday.

As of Monday, Barangays La Huerta, Sto. Niño and Vitalez also recorded zero active cases due to the local government’s “comprehensive response,” he said. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Ralph Edwin Villanueva