HIGH-RISK AREA: OCTA Research study cites Iloilo City as area of concern for COVID-19

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Iloilo City is among the 18 local government units (LGUs) in the country that have been classified as “high-risk” areas due to high daily case load, attack rate, or high hospitalization occupancy, according to a group of experts monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The OCTA Research study dated Oct 26, 2020 disclosed that the following LGUs were marked as high-risk for COVID-19:

Metro Manila

– Pasay

– Makati

– Pasig

– Mandaluyong

Rest of Luzon

– Baguio City, Benguet

– Itogon, Benguet

– Calamba, Laguna

– Angono, Rizal

– Cainta, Rizal

– Taytay, Rizal

– Lucena, Quezon

– Ilagan, Isabela

– Batangas City, Batangas

– General Trias, Cavite

Visayas

– Iloilo City, Iloilo

– San Carlos City, Negros Occidental

Mindanao

– Davao City, Davao Del Sur

– Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte

“We are concerned that these LGUs may experience high hospital burden in the coming weeks that may stress their healthcare systems and overwhelm their medical frontliners,” the OCTA Research said.

The group urged LGUs especially in high-risk areas to further intensify efforts at testing, tracing, and isolation of people to reverse the increase of coronavirus transmission at the community level.

The experts said more aggressive and effective localized lockdowns with stricter border controls is urgently needed to suppress further viral transmissions in identified high-risk areas.

“To this end, we reiterate the need for the national and the local governments to strictly monitor and enforce compliance with minimum health standards such as physical distancing, the wearing of face masks and face shields and proper hygiene to reverse the increase in transmissions at the community level,” the study added.

 

ATTACK RATE

Based on the data compiled by OCTA Research, Iloilo City’s attack rate of 11.4% is the third highest among LGUs outside Metro Manila. The attack rate data was compiled from Oct 11-24.

OCTA Research explained that in the analysis of COVID-19 hotspots, it uses as the basis the attack rate per 1,000 population for the most recent two-week period.

“The attack rate is just the number of new cases per day relative to population. For example, a daily attack rate of 5 percent per 1000 means that there are five new cases per 100,000 of population. A higher attack rate means more people are getting infected,” the group said.

In the group’s study, a province or an LGU with a daily attack rate of 1.0 percent per 1,000 is classified as low-risk.

Victorias (6.3%) and San Carlos City (6.2%) in Negros Occidental ranked 14^th and 17^th, respectively, in the attack rate list.

Pavia, Iloilo is ranked 24^th with an attack rate of 5.8%. (With a report from Inquirer.net)