Apart from the National Capital Region (NCR), its neighboring provinces should be monitored due to the continuous increase in COVID-19 cases.
Experts are aware of the rapid increase in the number of people getting the disease in NCR Plus, including Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
Bulacan and Cavite are said to have seen the fastest spread of the virus.
In fact, in just a few weeks, COVID-19 cases in those two provinces more than doubled.
Of the 5 provinces that make up the Calabarzon region, 4 have recorded cases of the more contagious Delta variant, the most in Laguna.
For Dr. Guido David, a fellow of the OCTA Research Group, although the Department of Health has not yet confirmed community transmission of the variant, there are grounds to say it already exists.
One of these is the limited capacity of genome sequencing.
A few weeks also passed before the sequencing result was obtained, so the patient often recovered.
“We only average 100 genome sequences per day because of limited capacity… ‘Pag sinasabi nilang we detected 96 cases of Delta variant, it doesn’t mean na 96 lang sa buong Pilipinas at that time. It means 96 out of ‘yong tinest nila,” said David.
COVID-19 cases increased in provinces around NCR
According to David, it is not impossible that more people have actually been hit by the Delta variant in the country.
Aside from the increase in COVID-19 cases, some hospitals have said that the utilization rate is high or critical.
“Kailangan natin talagang magkaroon ng cautiousness ngayon, so kailangan alam natin, because that’s also alarming dahil nakikita naman natin na marami na talagang pasyenteng pumupunta sa ospital. Ibig sabihin, tumataas ang kaso,” said Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire.
For former Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, testing and contact tracing must be intensified amid the rising number of patients.
“We should at least trace 1:30, not 1:4. We have Senator [Richard] Gordon, who tested positive for COVID, and we tested 60 plus contacts. That’s how to go about it,” said Ubial.
To date, contact tracing remains low, playing only 5 close contacts per patient with COVID-19.
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