DOH flags Zamboanga Peninsula as lone high-risk Mindanao region

The Department of Health (DOH) included Zamboanga Peninsula in its list of high-risk areas for COVID-19, making it the only Mindanao region in this category.

As of October 10, Zamboanga Peninsula had an ICU occupancy rate of 87%, placing it fourth overall with a critical care utilization rate of 71.6%.

Four other Mindanao regions—Caraga, Davao, Soccksargen, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao—are categorized as high-risk areas due to their ICU bed occupancy rates.

On October 11, the DOH also flagged the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Cagayan Valley, and Zamboanga Peninsula for high COVID-19 case numbers, citing a positive moderate-risk two-week growth rate and a high-risk average daily attack rate in CAR.

CAR recorded an ADAR of 49.55 from September 27 to October 10, with an ICU utilization rate of 85.47% and mechanical ventilator occupancy at 72.62%. Cagayan Valley had an ADAR of 35.12 during the same period, with a bed utilization rate of 79.69%, ICU utilization rate of 76.88%, and mechanical ventilator occupancy at 75.63%.