Dumaguete, Tacloban COVID-19 cases spike — OCTA

MANILA, Philippines — The OCTA Research Group has noted a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the cities of Dumaguete and Tacloban.

Citing data from the Department of Health (DOH), OCTA said Dumaguete recorded an average of 57 cases per day last week, an 80 percent increase from only 32 in the preceding week.

Tacloban logged 45 cases, an increase of 71 percent from 26 in the previous week.

The cities of Bacolod, Butuan, Baguio, Cotabato and Cebu also recorded a spike in cases.

OCTA said the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Butuan, Dumaguete, Tuguegarao, Tacloban and Cotabato are considered ”areas of concern.”

While Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo and Tuguegarao recorded a drop in the number of new cases in the past week, OCTA said the three areas still have a high daily attack rate, which measures the number of infections per 100,000 population.

Cagayan de Oro logged 14.42 daily infections per 100,000 individuals; Iloilo, 22.06, and Tuguegarao, 30.59.

A daily attack rate of 10 per 100,000 people is considered high-risk.

OCTA said the three areas also have high hospital bed and intensive care unit utilization rate.

Davao City, which recorded an average of 180 new cases daily from June 5 to 11, is considered at moderate risk.

The average daily attack rate was 9.89 per 100,000 people while hospital and ICU bed utilization remained below the critical threshold.

Ban on non-essential travel

Meanwhile, in Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he would issue an executive order prohibiting non-essential travel from Negros Oriental for two weeks.

Lacson said local chief executives in the province agreed during a zoom meeting on Friday to close their border to non-essential travelers in response to the recommendation of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Western Visayas.

The DOH-Western Visayas office said Negros Occidental logged 2,096 active cases while Bacolod City had 1,704 as of Friday.

Assistant provincial health officer Liland Estacion Negros Oriental recorded 1,837 active cases. – Gilbert Bayoran