MANILA, Philippines — Amid rising cases of COVID-19 in Quezon City, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday that the city remains under Alert Level 1 category.
“Quezon City remains at low risk for COVID,” the DOH said in an advisory.
The local government raised the COVID-19 early warning to “yellow” status after the city recorded an average of 26 cases weekly.
The yellow status was declared to intensify monitoring of COVID-19 cases, the DOH said.
“Changes in alert level depend on several factors such as compliance with minimum public health standards and coverage of vaccine primary series and boosters,” the DOH said.
Under the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the DOH said aside from an increase in COVID cases, hospital admission and healthcare utilization rates are also considered in changing the alert status.
The DOH pointed out that the number of COVID-19 cases is being monitored to check if this would lead to shortage of hospital beds.
Rolando Cruz, QC Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit chief, said Quezon City remains under Alert Level 1 based on the IATF guidelines.
“Our monitoring system is used for internal reporting only and should not be confused with the official alert classification issued by the IATF,” Cruz said.
Aside from the spike in daily COVID cases, Cruz said the city’s positivity rate doubled to 3.10 percent from 1.50 percent from May 27 to June 2.
The COVID-19 reproduction number also rose to 3.4 percent from 1.1 percent last week.
Cruz said the local government is prepared for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases in the next two weeks under the yellow status.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte reminded the public to continue following health protocols and get booster shots.
“We have come a long way, but the virus is still with us. Again, we call on the residents to remain vigilant,” Belmonte said.
She called on those who have yet to get their COVID vaccine or booster to visit the nearest barangay health center or register online through the QC e-services website.
Last April, the city government rolled out the second booster for immunocompromised adults, senior citizens and frontline health workers.