The number of clusters being monitored by the Department of Health (DOH) on COVID-19 has increased amid the rise of confirmed cases in the country.
Latest data show that there is a total of 638 clusters, 79 of which were only recorded from July 15 to 17. On the clustering of communities, 29 are in NCR, 11 in Region 4A, 8 in Region 3, 5 each in Regions 5 and 6, 4 each in Regions 9 and 10, 2 each in Regions 2, 7, 12, BARMM, and 1 in Region 11.
For other areas, there are 2 each for NCR and Region 9. UP OCTA Research said there is still an increase of cases in Metro Manila.
“Pero sa NCR, there’s a genuine surge, pero yung surge na ito, this is genuine… It’s not just because nag-increase iyong testing. Because when we checked, iyong positivity rate has also increased. (There is a genuine surge in NCR. It is genuine… It’s not just because of increased testing. Because when we checked, the positivity rate also increased),” Dr. Guido David explained.
DOH data show that NCR is still the leading region with high COVID-19 cases for the past week as the transmission rate for Cebu province has slowed down.
“From about 2 na R, ngayon nasa 1.14 nalang. So it’s actually very close to 1. If we keep this up, baka maflatten na natin yung Cebu (From the reproductive number of 2, it went down to 1.14. It’s actually very close to 1. If we keep this up, we might flatten it in Cebu),” Dr. David said.
Experts recommend retaining strict quarantine measures in Cebu City to eventually arrest the increase in cases and to flatten the epidemic curve.
As of July 20, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 68,898 after 1,521 cases were reported. Recoveries rose to 23,072 while number of fatalities climbed to 1,835. – Report from Mark Fetalco
