Metro’s infection rate up to 18.8%, but no surge in hospitalization

THE COVID-19 positivity rate in the capital region Metro Manila rose to 18.8% on May 1, pandemic monitoring group OCTA said.

Metro Manila’s infection rate increased by 7.1 percentage points from the 11.7% recorded on April 24, OCTA fellow Fredegusto P. David tweeted.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a 5% threshold for positivity rate.

On Tuesday, Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said the current increase in COVID-19 cases cannot be compared to the numbers recorded during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“We need to raise the level of our risk tolerance to COVID-19. The increase in cases did not translate to more hospital admissions, and it did not translate to more severe and critical cases and even deaths,” she said.

The Philippines’ health utilization rate remains at low risk “because of the wall of immunity due to vaccination,” she added.

The Philippines posted 4,456 COVID-19 infections last week with a daily average of 637. The daily average from April 24 to 30 was 42% higher than the average cases per day from a week earlier, the Department of Health said in a Tuesday bulletin.

There were 22 severe and critical cases, accounting for 0.49% of the cases in the last week of April.

The agency said there were no deaths reported during the same period.

It said 303 out of 2,021 intensive care unit (ICU) beds had been used as of April 30, while 3,157 out of 17,480 non-ICU beds were occupied. There were 351 severe and critical admissions. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza