Situation Overview

• August 15, 2021 marked the fifth consecutive day that the country has recorded five -digit increase in COVID-19 cases. In Metro Manila, despite being under the strictest lockdown, the trends in reported cases, severe cases, deaths and positivity continued to rise.

• In Quezon City, COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing which has created more risk of transmission. The positivity rate of cases is very high with more than 23.5 % daily. An increasing number of young people aged 17 and under are contracting COVID-19 virus. It rose to 318 in the first week of August from 81 in the same period in July, equivalent to a 293 percentage-point increase.

• In Pasay City, the Pasay City General Hospital (PCGH) announced on Saturday that it would temporarily suspend admissions to its emergency room (ER) for both confirmed and non-coronavirus disease patients as they are nearing full capacity. The hospital ward for confirmed COVID-19 cases are now at critical risk status, forcing them to only admit Pasay residents for COVID-19 and non-COVID admissions.

• Bacolod City ordered the lockdown of two residential areas in Barangay Sum-ag and Banago as two cases of delta variant have been detected while Laguna has been placed again under Enhanced Community Quarantine, the highest form of community quarantine until August 20, 2021, to prevent further spread of coronavirus disease and other variations thereof.

• The Provincial IATF of Apayao are planning to conduct aggressive community testing due to the increasing number of confirmed cases in the province over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, Bislig City in Surigao del Sur sets new travel rules amid the Delta threat. The order will take effect on August 16 and remain in full force unless revoked or amended.

• In Ilocos Norte, at least 7 new Delta cases have been detected in seven towns in the province. Residents across the province are strongly urged to be extremely careful. In the case of Dagupan City in Pangasinan, the city was placed under COVID-19 alert level 4 as bed utilization escalated at 80 percent even when there are no confirmed cases of Delta variant. The Dagupan local government unit (LGU) was advised to increase dedicated beds for COVID-19 cases and position the temporary and monitoring facilities.

• While the country continues to reckon with the Delta variant’s pervasive spread, the Department of Health reported the detection of the first case of another variant called the Lambda variant in the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies Lambda as a “variant of interest”, which was first identified in Peru in December. It is said to be more infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the original virus that emerged from Wuhan, China.

• Meanwhile, school year 2021 in the country has been delayed by another six weeks as the country struggles with rising coronavirus infections. According to the Department of Education, classes will begin on October 5, as classrooms are turned into quarantine facilities. They also inculpate the latest lockdown of Metro Manila and four surrounding provinces for “logistical limitations” in preparing for distant schooling.

• As the country is in the brink of “critical state” because of the overwhelming cases of corona virus diseases, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assured that there is no insufficiency on medical-grade oxygen tanks in the country. The department also appealed to public to stop hoarding oxygen tanks at home as hospitals may face shortage of oxygen tanks and those really in need will suffer. They also reiterated that procuring oxygen tanks without doctor’s advised would be detrimental to health when it is improperly used.

New Community Quarantine Classifications

• On August 13, 2021, the government released the complete list of quarantine classifications for all parts in the country. Enhanced Community Quarantine is still in effect until August 20, 2021 while Bataan will remain under the same quarantine classification until August 22.

• Places under Moderate Enhance Community Quarantine (MECQ) starting from August 16 to 31, 2021 are the following: Cagayan de Oro, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Lucena City, Aklan, IloIlo Province, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City and Cebu City.

• Areas placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions from August 16-31 are the following; Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Quezon, Batangas, Naga City, Antique, Bacolod City, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Davao City, Davao del Norte while Tarlac is under the same classification from August 13 to 31.

• Meanwhile, Baguio City, Santiago City, Quirino, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quezon, Puerto Prinsesa, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, General Santos, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, Agusan del Sur and del Norte, Surigao del Sur; Dinagat Island and Cotabato City are under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from August 16 to 31, 2021.

• Meanwhile, all other areas shall be placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) classification from August 16 to August 31, 2021.

Affected Populations

• On August 15, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 14, 749 new coronavirus cases, it is the second largest daily increase bringing the total confirmed infections in the country to 1.74 million. There were 102,748 active cases, or 5.9% of the country’s total caseload.

• The Department of Health also logged an additional 270 deaths, the third-highest one-day increase in fatalities, increasing the number of deaths to 30,340. This is the third straight day that more than 200 new fatalities were reported.

• In a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), of the confirmed cases reported in the country, majority are male aged 25 to 34 years old while majority of confirmed fatalities are male , with the most affected age group 65-74 , followed by the age group 60-64 years and the age group 80+. National Capital Region (34.7%) remains with the highest number of coronavirus cases, it was followed by CALABARZON (16.7%), Central Luzon (9%), Central Visayas (5.8%), and Western Visayas (5.6%).

• As of August 11, 2021, 14,100,119 (13 %) individuals received their first of COVID-19 vaccine while 12,027,383 are fully vaccinated. As of this writing, 177 additional Delta cases were detected by the Department of Health (DOH) bringing the total to 627 delta variant cases in the country.

Emergency Response Efforts
• CDRC is closely monitoring the situation and monitor the Department of Health website for updated information about COVID-19.
• CDRC also monitor the Philippines’ National Task Force Against COVID-19 social media page for information and updates.
Resources Available
• Standby emergency funds
• Prepositioned goods at the CDRC warehouse
• Monetary and in-kind donations
Coordination
1. Department of Health
2. Philippines’ National Task Force Against COVID-19
Contacts
1. Hanna Fiel, Deputy Executive Director, 0945-8355589, hanna.fiel.cdrc2019@gmail.com
2. Cora Jazmines, Local Partnerships Department, 0928-182-4969, lpd@cdrc-phil.com