Five NCR areas back to low risk – DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Five areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) previously classified as under moderate risk are set to be downgraded to low risk, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.

Pasig, San Juan, Quezon City, Marikina and Pateros will de-escalate to low risk despite having a high growth rate for the past weeks “because their average daily attack rate (ADAR) has not reached above six and their healthcare utilization is less than 50 percent,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a Laging Handa briefing.

She noted that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has modified the matrix used for the alert level system and removed the two-week growth rate in determining the case-risk classification.

Under the new matrix, an area shall be classified as moderate risk based on its hospital utilization above 50 percent and ADAR of at least six cases per day per 100,000 population.

An area shall be classified under low risk if it has a hospital utilization rate below 50 percent and ADAR of less than 1 per 100,000 population.

Rather than the ADAR, the government is giving more importance to the healthcare utilization rate and the number of severe and critical cases, Vergeire said.

The DOH is now closely monitoring a number of hospitals in NCR with increasing ICU occupancy rates due to severe and critical cases, she added.

Vergeire said there is no reason to panic as long as most COVID cases are mild, moderate and asymptomatic.

‘Follow health protocols’

The National Capital Region Police Office is calling on Metro Manila residents to follow health protocols after the NCRPO recorded a high number of violators, especially with a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the region.

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Felipe Natividad said police warned 1,920 residents and fined 409 others who were caught violating public health standards during patrol operations on Monday alone.

“We should have learned to live with this virus by now. These policies were in place to ensure that our communities are safe and our citizenry especially the children and the elderly are protected. I urge everyone to re-instill your commitment and strengthen our unity against this deadly disease,” Natividad said.

From June 20 to June 26, the Department of Health has recorded 4,364 new cases at an average of 662 cases per day – 53 percent higher than the number of cases from June 13 to 19.

This month, the NCRPO enacted stricter measures to ensure that the public follows health protocols amid warning signs of another case surge in the region.

The measures include increased police visibility in crowded areas as well as increased police patrols in communities. – Neil Jayson Servallos