The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) has classified country back to a “high risk” zone for COVID-19 following the sharp increase in infection cases in the past few days.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the increase in positivity rate was seen in all regions of the country.
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“Nationally, we are now at high risk case classification from low risk case class in the previous week, showing a positive two-week growth rate at 222% and a moderate risk average daily attack rate at 1.07 cases for every 100,000 individuals,” she said.
Meanwhile, the National healthcare utilization rate remains at “low risk,” with the total bed utilization at 18% and intensive care units (ICU) utilization at 22%.
According to authorities, Philippines has registered 21,418 active COVID-19 cases as of January 2, 2022, with a seven-day growth rate of 569.86%.
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The DOH has warned of “exponential growth” following the detection of three cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the Omicron variant may already be responsible for the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country. (AW)
