Experts tag 7 high-risk areas for COVID-19 in latest report

Nov 25, 2020 5:26:47 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 25) — Experts from the OCTA research team have classified some parts of Luzon and Mindanao as high-risk areas for COVID-19 due to high positivity rate, high attack rate and dwindling hospital capacity to cater to coronavirus patients.

In its report released on Wednesday, OCTA said that for the monitoring period of November 17 to 23, areas of concern are the cities of Makati, Baguio, Lucena, Batangas, Davao and Pagadian, as well as the municipality of Capas in Tarlac.

“We are concerned these LGUs may experience high hospital burden in the coming weeks that may stress their healthcare systems and overwhelm their medical front-liners,” OCTA said about high-risk areas.

The experts noted that the hospital occupancy rate of Davao, Makati, Batangas and Pagadian cities breached the high-risk level of 70% during the said week, while Lucena already hit the critical threshold of 85%.

Meanwhile, Baguio recorded an 8.3% attack rate — the proportion of those who have gotten ill after their exposure to the virus, Capas had a 7.6% attack rate, while other high-risk areas ranged from 4% to 6.9%. A high attack rate means more people are getting infected.

Davao City reported the highest number of new cases per day during the monitoring period at 78.

OCTA, however, noted that the situation in Baguio and Davao “has significantly improved and continues to improve due to the appropriate and aggressive response of these LGUs.”

Upward trend

An uptick in new coronavirus cases has also been observed in Quezon City, Caloocan, Marikina, Parañaque, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Navotas and San Juan in Metro Manila. It was also observed in the Cavite province’s cities of Bacoor, Dasmariñas and Imus; Antipolo in Rizal; Sta. Rosa in Laguna; as well as Angeles City and Mabalacat town, both in Pampanga province.

OCTA said while this may be a cause of concern, this is not a “cause for alarm,” adding the situation is still manageable.

Under monitoring

Meanwhile, the government is keeping a close watch on parts of Mindanao, Calabarzon and Metro Manila due to a recent rise in infections, COVID-19 task force chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. said Wednesday.

He said spikes in cases have been recently observed in areas which serve as ‘hubs’ for COVID-19 patients such as Quezon province and Davao.

“Karamihan po doon ay mga hubs, centers, especially yung Davao. Nakikita natin sa buong Mindanao, siya ang tinatawag na central hub. And the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao, ay siya ring pinalalagakan ng mga COVID cases. Ganun din po sa Quezon.” he added.

[Translation: Most of the areas under monitoring are hubs, centers, especially Davao, which is considered as the central hub in Mindanao. COVID-19 cases usually go to Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.]

Limit holiday celebrations

OCTA warned the public against joining or organizing social gatherings, noting that “increased social mixing” among households is fueling the second wave of COVID-19 in Europe and North America.

“To prevent a similar wave here in the Philippines, we encourage the government and LGUs to enforce the current GCQ limit of 10 persons per gathering in the NCR and to discourage office parties and other social events, especially as we approach the Christmas season,” the group underscored.

“Family gatherings should be limited in size and should be celebrated outside to mitigate transmission,” it added.

The Department of Health earlier said it is creating a contingency plan that will outline the responsibilities of concerned national and local officials once a “post-holiday season surge” happens in the country.

SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/11/25/Experts-7-high-risk-areas-COVID-19-.html