The OCTA Research Group named Puerto Princesa City as one of the 11 local government units (LGUs) still experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, despite the general decline of new cases recorded in other areas of the country.
In a report released Saturday, which came from data gathered from the Department of Health (DOH), the 11 LGUs were reported to have the highest daily average of new cases recorded from the week of October 30 to November 5.
OCTA experts are attributing the rise in cases to the Delta variant.
“The Delta (variant) surge is slowing down in the National Capital Region and most provinces. However, there are smaller municipalities where outbreaks have occurred,” OCTA Research fellow Guido David said in the report.
Aside from Puerto Princesa, other LGUs in the report included Tuguegarao City, Santa Ana town in Cagayan, Pudtol town in Apayao, Baguio City, Antipolo City, Lubang in Occidental Mindoro, Bacolod City, Dumaguete City, Zamboanga City, and Davao City.
Puerto Princesa was also classified as “moderate-risk,” along with Zamboanga City, Baguio, Bacolod, and Tuguegarao. According to the OCTA report, this classification comes from an LGU’s positivity rate, healthcare utilization rate, and average daily attack rate during a certain period.
According to the City Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (CESU), there are a total of 930 active COVID-19 cases in Puerto Princesa as of November 8. Local health experts have called the current trend of cases a plateau, meaning that there are fewer sharp increases in new cases. However, this also means the number of active cases is also not decreasing as much as health officials hope.
