Fifty-four areas, including 11 in the National Capital Region (NCR), have been placed under Alert Level 4 by the Department of Health (DOH) for rising cases of COVID-19 and high health care utilization rate or HCUR.
At a press briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the 11 areas in NCR are Las Piñas, Malabon, Makati, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan, Pateros, Quezon City, Taguig and Valenzuela.
Vergeire noted the data include Zambales and Guimaras, which used to be under Alert Level 2.
The areas of Antique, Bohol, Zamboanga del Sur, and Cotabato (North Cotabato) have also escalated from Alert Level 3 to 4.
By classification, an area is under Alert Level 4 if the cases of COVID-19 are high and still increasing, and if its HCUR is over 70 percent, regardless of the presence of Delta variant cases.
The DOH yesterday reported 13,177 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 1,713,302. This led the positivity rate of swab samples tested to hit 23.6, the highest since the pandemic started.
The country saw the highest daily number last April 2 when 15,310 new cases were reported, although with an added backlog of more than 3,000 cases.
Data showed there were 96,395 active cases, representing 5.6 percent of overall cases. Among confirmed cases, there were 299 new deaths among COVID-19 patients, bringing the death toll to 29,838.
On the other hand, 4,322 COVID-19 patients have recovered, placing the number of recoveries at 1,587,069.
Trend
According to Vergeire, the entire country is now seeing increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections, with nine of its regions reaching the “high risk” classification.
This story is from the August 14, 2021 edition of The Philippine Star.
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This story is from the August 14, 2021 edition of The Philippine Star.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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