7 provinces report above 10% Covid positivity

July 9 ------ SEVEN provinces in the country have posted Covid-19 positivity rates higher than 10 percent, according to data from OCTA Research.

The province of Antique registered the highest positivity rate among provinces selected by OCTA in its July 5 positivity rate bulletin, with a 20.6 percent positivity rate. Other provinces that reported a positivity rate higher than 10 percent were Batangas, Cavite, Iloilo, Laguna, Pampanga and Rizal. The National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) posted a 9.8 percent positivity rate, alongside the provinces of Bataan, Benguet, Bulacan, Davao del Sur, Isabela and Pangasinan, which reported positivity rates of higher than 5 percent. The World Health Organization said that a positivity rate of less than 5 percent meant that the infection remains under control. Only Cebu reported a lower than 5 percent positivity rate, clocking in at 3.9 percent.

Meanwhile, 97 additional BA.5 subvariant cases have been detected in the country on Thursday. Of the 140 BA.5 cases, 99 were detected in the Western Visayas Region, while 21 were from NCR, seven are from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and five from Ilocos region. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country has a total of 233 BA.5 cases. Even if there are more BA.5 detections in recent genomic sequencing reports, she said it does not mean that there is community transmission of the variant. "We can't capture all positive cases in the country and therefore, the results might be biased... you might be seeing other variants or the existing variants," Vergeire told reporters in a news briefing on Thursday.

Source: manilatimes.net