By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in all areas of Western Visayas has tapered, prompting the transition to lower alert levels, based on data from the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) as of Feb 27, 2022.
As reported on Sunday, Aklan, Bacolod City, Capiz, and Guimaras are now on Alert Level 1 or the “New Normal”, while Antique, Iloilo City, Iloilo province, and Negros Occidental slide down to Alert Level 2, starting today, March 1, 2022.
Based on the DOH-WV CHD data, the areas under Alert Level 1 are considered Minimal Risk while those under Alert Level 2 are at Low Risk.
The risk classification is based on two factors – 2-Week Growth Rate (2WGR), or the increase in new COVID-19 cases over a 14-day period; and the Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR), or the number of new cases that emerged for every 100,000 people, also on a 14-day period.
The alert level also considers the 2WGR and ADAR but it adds the Health Care Utilization Rate (HCUR), which refers to the percentage rate of hospital resources used for COVID, including beds and mechanical ventilators.
Region 6 posted a steady decline in new cases in the past few weeks, with a 2WGR of –82 percent and an ADAR of 1.45 from Feb. 11 to Feb 24.
The overall HCUR as of Feb. 27 is 28.24 percent.
Only 1,626 new COVID cases were logged within the same period, compared to Jan. 28 to Feb. 10 with 8,816 new cases.
When broken down per area, Aklan showed the greatest downtrend (–88 percent), followed by Bacolod City (–87 percent), Negros Occidental (–86 percent), Antique (–85 percent), Iloilo City (–83 percent), Capiz (–82 percent), Iloilo province (–76 percent), and Guimaras (–67 percent).
As to the ADAR, Aklan also had the least number of new cases per 100,000 people (0.43), followed by Negros Occidental (0.57), Capiz (0.65), Antique (1.00), Bacolod City (1.26), Iloilo province (2.38), Guimaras (2.72), and Iloilo City (5.12).
Aklan also has the lowest HCUR at 8.40 percent, followed by Negros Occidental (14 percent), Bacolod City (16.31 percent), Antique (17.83 percent), Capiz (18 percent), Iloilo province (29.68 percent), Guimaras (34.48 percent), and Iloilo City (47.79 percent).
Apart from the downtrends in new cases, high levels of vaccination around the region are also seen as factor in lower risk classification.
So far, 71.11 percent of the region’s eligible population are fully vaccinated, with senior citizens at a 72.61 percent vaccination rate.
Bacolod City has the most number of fully-vaccinated persons (123.02 percent), while Negros Occidental has the lowest (56.97 percent).
Iloilo City has 122. 10 percent inoculation rate, followed by Aklan (74.57 percent), Capiz (73.07 percent), Guimaras (72.18 percent), Iloilo province (64.69 percent), and Antique (57.15 percent).
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Western Visayas as of Feb. 27 is 181,662 (8,637 active, 167,752 recovered, and 5,197 deaths).
