OCTA: Five Provinces See ‘Very High’ COVID-19 Positivity Rates

Five provinces logged "very high" or more than 20% COVID-19 positivity rates as of July 16, as per independent think tank OCTA Research on July 18.

According to OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David via Twitter today, the five provinces are Aklan (35.0%), Laguna (22.6%), Nueva Ecija (21.0%), Pampanga (23.1%), and Tarlac (27.6%). All five provinces reported higher figures compared to their positivity rates from July 9.

"Especially in provinces where positivity rates are very high (above 20%), the public is strongly advised to practice necessary caution to prevent Covid infection," David said.

Meanwhile, the National Capital Region logged a 12.6% positivity rate as of July 16, an increase from 10.9% from July 9.

In response to a netizen's query on Twitter today about the possibility of a lockdown if positivity rates reach a certain point, David said, "Lockdown won't happen. Escalation to alert level 2 in NCR is unlikely as long as hospital utilization remains low (below 50%)."

The hospital occupancy rate in NCR is currently at 29.6%.

The capital has most of the newest COVID-19 cases, posting 988 cases on July 17, with Quezon City reporting 197 cases, followed by Makati (118 new cases) and Manila (100 new cases).

The Philippines currently has 19,873 active cases, as of July 17, with an 11.8% nationwide positivity rate.

In May 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments that the positivity rate (or the percentage of all tests that are actually positive for coronavirus) should remain at or below the 5% threshold for safe reopening.