Here’s how the two-week average of daily new COVID-19 cases looked like per province and independent city on August 1, compared to that on August 31, based on data from the Department of Health (DOH).

The color codes on the map are based on DOH’s risk classifications.

In our weekly COVID-19 Watch, we are also looking into the following issues this week of August 30, 2021: 

● Unprecedented levels of hospital admissions since April
● Unreleased benefits for health workers
● Scientists’ explanation of the decline of vaccine effectiveness

Read the full outlook here. 

On the same day the Philippines saw a fresh one-day record for new COVID-19 cases, multiple areas in the country also logged their highest single-day tallies.

Based on data from the Department of Health (DOH), six regions saw a new one-day record in confirmed infections on Monday, August 30:

● Calabarzon: 4,942
● Central Luzon: 2,885
● Western Visayas: 1,174
● Ilocos Region: 1,153
● Davao Region: 1,097
● Mimaropa: 323

New records were also set in 10 provinces: Cavite, with 1,922 new cases; Davao del Sur (with Davao City), 812;  Ilocos Sur, 271; Iloilo (with Iloilo City), 657; Laguna, 1,405; Nueva Ecija, 467; Occidental Mindoro, 60; Pangasinan (with Dagupan City), 526; Sarangani, 174; and Zambales (with Olongapo City), 259.

Davao City also logged its new single-day tally, with 568. The same was also the case in nine other cities: Dasmariñas (329), General Trias (319), and Trece Martires (101) in Cavite; Calamba (291) and San Pablo (134) in Laguna; Cabanatuan (92) in Nueva Ecija; Angeles (218) in Pampanga; Urdaneta (33) in Pangasinan; and Pagadian (62) in Zamboanga del Sur.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has suspended the operations of its consular office at SM Megamall until September 3, after some of its personnel were identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case.

“All scheduled passport appointments during this period will be rescheduled soonest…. Affected applicants will receive an email providing them with an alternative passport appointment schedule,” the DFA said in its advisory to the public.

Vice President Leni Robredo suggested that the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines be decentralized to help local government units (LGUs) speed up their vaccination drives.

In her weekly radio show on Sunday, August 29, Robredo cited the various challenges encountered by LGUs in purchasing vaccines via tripartite deals. She said there were cases where pharmaceutical companies would talk only to the national government, as well as instances where the national government’s approval of LGUs’ planned purchases took a long time.

“We understand why procurement was centralized at the start, but now, we’re running short on supply,” Robredo said in Filipino.

The Philippines recorded a fresh second highest one-day tally of new COVID-19 cases as the country’s total caseload topped 1.95 million on Sunday, August 29.

The Department of Health (DOH) announced 18,528 new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines to 1,954,023.

Read more.