Independent research group OCTA still flagged Davao City, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Tacloban City as "areas of concern" outside Metro Manila due to the high number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in these areas during the June 15-21 period.
In its monitoring report released on Tuesday, June 22, OCTA observed the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in Davao City at 246 cases, up by 28 percent from the previous week.
OCTA, however, noted "some welcome news" as new cases had a decrease in some noted hotspots, such as Bacolod City (161 cases to 114 cases) with a negative (-)29 percent growth rate, Iloilo City (131 cases to 88 cases) with (-)33 percent growth rate, and Cagayan de Oro City (102 cases to 79 cases) with (-)22 percent growth rate.
While there is a bit of good news in its latest monitoring, OCTA still observed that hospital bed occupancy is still "critical" at above 70 percent in Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, Tuguegarao City, Dasmariñas City, Butuan City, Tacloban City, Roxas City, and Polomolok, South Cotabato.
The occupancy of intensive care units (ICUs) was also under critical level, at above 85 percent, in Davao City, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, Tagum, Cotabato City, San Pablo City (Laguna), Koronadal City, Batangas City, and Santa Rosa City (Laguna).
"A sharp increase in new cases, possibly due to some clusters of cases, was observed in Calumpit, Bulacan, which had an almost 200 percent increase from the previous week," OCTA also said.
Very high attack rates were also observed in Dumaguete City, Tuguegarao City, Polomolok, Tacloban City, and Calumpit.
Overall, OCTA said that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has decreased by 8 percent, averaging 6,027 cases per day during the June 15-21 period.
This is down from the daily average of 6,578 cases during the June 8-14 period.
The reproduction number in the Philippines over the same period was 0.95.
In Metro Manila, the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to decrease as it averaged 700 cases per day from June 15 to June 21. OCTA said this is a 15 percent decrease from the average COVID-19 cases during the previous week.
This corresponds to an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 5.07 per 100,000, which is considered "moderate-low."
The reproduction number in Metro Manila over the same period was 0.73.
Health care utilization are within "safe levels"--35 percent hospital bed occupancy, 42 percent ICU bed occupancy, and 31 percent mechanical ventilator occupancy
Among the areas in Metro Manila, OCTA said Navotas had the lowest average number of cases and lowest ADAR, which means it is close to being classified as a low-risk area for COVID-19.