The province of Rizal recorded a spike in Covid-19 cases, as shown by its higher growth rate from -15 percent to 47 percent over the past week, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said on Monday, Sept. 12.
“Rizal reported 228 new Covid-19 cases on Sept. 9. This was higher than its previous peak of 203 during the current wave. The 7-day average of new Covid-19 cases in the province of Rizal had a one week growth rate of 47 percent, from 84 as of August 29 to September 4, to 124 as of September 5 to 11,” David said in an update shared on Twitter.
He said that Rizal’s reproduction number also increased from 0.90 as of Sept. 1 to 1.25 as of Sept. 8.
The positivity rate also rose from 12 percent as of Sept. 3 to 17.4 percent as of Sept. 10.
“The increase in positivity rate indicates that the spike is not due to backlog. the ADAR (average daily attack rate) in Rizal remained low at 3.73. Healthcare utilization in Rizal for Covid was moderate at 50.8 percent, while ICU occupancy was low at 5 percent,” David pointed out.
On Sunday, Sept. 12, David noted that Metro Manila’s daily positivity rate has been increasing and that the region is having a “slow uptick” in Covid-19 cases.
“This is not unexpected given the increased mobility of the population. The vulnerable sector, particularly the elderly and those with co-morbidities, is advised to take extra necessary precautions,” David said.
Positivity rate refers to the number of individuals who yielded positive results from among those who have been tested for Covid-19.
“It (Metro Manila’s positivity rate) was 13.3 percent as of Sept. 9, up from 12.1 percent as of Sept. 2,” David said.
He said that Metro Manila had an average of 10,247 RT-PCR tests per day over the past week.
The capital region’s reproduction number also increased to 1.11 as of Sept. 7, from 0.93 as of Aug. 31.
“The reproduction number has increased to greater than 1, which means infections are increasing,” David pointed out.
Moreover, Metro Manila’s one-week growth rate was 6 percent (Sept. 3 to 10), compared with -17 percent previously (Aug. 27 to Sept. 3).
The ADAR in Metro Manila also increased slightly to 5.58 per day per 100,000 population, but it is still considered “low.”
David said that Covid-19 hospital bed occupancy and ICU occupancy both remained low, at 34.5 percent and 28.9 percent, respectively.