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September overtakes August as worst month so far in PH COVID-19 fight

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="People offer prayers at the Baclaran church on September 29, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/01/20210929-covid-baclaran-church-jc-6.jpg"/><figcaption>People offer prayers at the Baclaran church on September 29, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATED)</strong>— September became the Philippines&#x27; worst month so far in its COVID-19 fight after breaking records and posting a total of over half a million new virus cases, compounded by the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/31/21/who-confirms-ph-community-transmission-of-delta-variant">community transmission</a> of the more virulent Delta variant. </p><p>According to ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido, this month surpassed <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/31/21/ph-logs-over-400000-new-covid-19-cases-this-august">August </a>in terms of new cases recorded at 561,752, though the health department encountered issues with its data collating system COVIDKaya towards the last week of the month.</p><p>The Philippines reported 406,346 cases in August, Guido said.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines:<br/><br/>August 2021 = 406,346<br/>September 2021 = 561,752 ⬆️<br/><br/>September is the worst month so far in the country&#x27;s COVID-19 outbreak in terms of total cases with more than 500,000 reported. Hopefully, things will get better in October 🙏🏻</p>— Edson C. Guido (@EdsonCGuido) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdsonCGuido/status/1443569606321336331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>The country&#x27;s <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/11/21/new-covid-cases-in-ph-hit-record-single-day-high-26303">all time high</a> daily tally was also reported on Sept. 11 with 26,303 cases. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/29/21/covid-19-cases-in-ncr-dropping-data-inconsistent-mayor">COVID-19 cases in NCR &#x27;dropping&#x27;? Mayor says data inconsistent</a></li></ul><p>Meanwhile, the second and third highest fresh daily cases were logged on <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/18/21/2nd-highest-ever-ph-records-23134-new-covid-19-cases">Sept. 18</a> (23,134) and <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/09/21/ph-logs-new-record-high-22820-addl-covid-19-cases">Sept. 9</a> (22,820), data showed.</p><p>The last week of September, meanwhile, was hounded by issues related to the health department&#x27;s data collating system COVIDKaya, which led to the reporting of 0 deaths for 3 straight days, from Sept. 24 to 26.</p><p>On the brighter side, deaths were lower this month compared with August, even with duplicates considered, the ABS-CBN data and research teams pointed out.</p><p>The country had 4,860 COVID-19 fatalities this month, compared to the 5,564 total deaths in August, Guido said. </p><div><strong>SLUMP IN TESTING </strong></div><p>On Thursday, the DOH said it was investigating the decline of COVID-19 tests in the past week, which could be the reason behind the low number of new infections being logged. </p><p>The agency emphasized that a 10-percent decline in tests was observed nationally, and 14 percent in the National Capital Region in the past week.</p><p>On Sept. 24, the DOH also <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/24/21/doh-probing-drop-in-covid-19-testing">cautioned </a>the public in interpreting the data and concluding that the pandemic situation in virus epicenter Metro Manila has already improved considering the development.</p><p>According to Guido, the daily average of tests conducted from Sept. 23 to 29 was down to 68,989 from the 79,549 daily samples tested from Sept. 16 to 22. </p><p>This was analyzed based on DOH&#x27;s data drop on Sept. 30, he said.</p><p>&quot;The past few weeks, nasa 70,000 plus na. May mga araw na lumalagpas pa ng 80,000, pero ngayon kung napapansin niyo, nasa around 60,000 plus,&quot; the analyst noted in an interview over Teleradyo.</p><p>(The past few weeks were over 70,000 plus (tests), there were also some days that it went over 80,000. But now, testing is only around 60,000 plus)</p><p>&quot;Pag mas mababa ang ating nate-test, mas mababa rin ang nakikita nating numero.&quot;</p><p>(If the test is low, our figures are also low)</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Chart from ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/01/chart.jpg"/><figcaption>Chart from ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido</figcaption></figure></div><p>The positivity rate, however, is also relatively lower compared to the previous days, according to Guido. </p><p>On Friday, the DOH posted a 21.3 percent positivity rate, the lowest in nearly 2 months or since Aug. 9. This is 4 times higher than the benchmark of the World Health Organization (WHO).</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/01/21/ph-logs-15566-more-covid-19-cases">READ: PH posts 15,566 new COVID-19 cases, 199 more deaths</a></li></ul><p>According to WHO, this can mean that the cases are slowing and the virus growth is controlled. </p><p>Guido said it is important that COVID-19 testing should increase, citing the efforts of the country&#x27;s neighbors who are also battling the Delta variant.</p><p>&quot;Isa lang ang sinasabi kapag napakataas ng positivity rate, it only means that kulang ang testing na ginagawa natin, at kung nagte-test tayo, ang tine-test lang natin ay yung mga talagang, &#x27;the sickest patients,&#x27;&quot; the analyst explained, citing a Bloomberg report on the country&#x27;s pandemic response.</p><p>(If the positivity rate is high, it only means that our testing is limited. If we test, the people we are testing are only the &#x27;sickest patients.&#x27;)</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s likely that there are high levels of undetected infections. Ito yung mga sinasabi nating nagkakaroon ng transmission na hindi natin nate-trace kaya patuloy ang pagtaas ng kaso kung talagang mahina ang ating testing,&quot; he added.</p><p>(The limited testing is what contributes to the COVID-19 transmission that remained undetected, thus the high number of new COVID-19 cases)</p><div><strong> WHAT HAPPENED IN SEPTEMBER </strong></div><p>Philippine authorities extended the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila until Sept. 15, as the government transitioned to the pilot implementation of new lockdown levels in the region. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/07/21/gcq-deferred-ncr-to-stay-under-mecq-until-sept-15">Gov&#x27;t backtracks: Metro Manila to stay under MECQ, GCQ with alert levels deferred</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/12/21/what-to-remember-as-ph-shifts-to-alert-level-system">EXPLAINER: What to expect in new alert levels scheme in NCR, Philippines</a></li></ul><p>The move aimed to jumpstart the pandemic-hit economy while trying to control the growth of infections amid the threat of the Delta variant. </p><p>A 5-tier new virus response strategy was then enforced in Metro Manila, with the region placed under Alert Level 4, allowing for granular lockdowns in areas with infection clusters. </p><p>Government has just extended implementation of Alert Level 4 in the region until Oct. 15, which includes targeted lockdowns in areas with cluster of infections. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/30/21/duterte-economic-team-backs-ncr-shift-to-level-3">Lopez says Duterte economic team backs NCR shift to Level 3, gym reopening</a></li></ul><p>The country also fell to the bottom of Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking in September, making it the worst place to be during the pandemic among 53 countries. </p><p>The Bloomberg report, published on Sept. 29, described the country&#x27;s pandemic situation as a &quot;perfect storm&quot; amid the Delta variant transmission.</p><p>This developed &quot;at the same time as it works with an inadequate testing regime and sees disruptions to its economy and people’s livelihoods as the pandemic continues to rage,” Bloomberg said. </p><p>On Friday, the DOH confirmed 15,566 new COVID-19 cases and 199 more deaths. Active cases, on the other hand, reached 130,268. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/01/21/ph-logs-15566-more-covid-19-cases">PH posts 15,566 new COVID-19 cases, 199 more deaths</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines logged its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Jan. 30 last year in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged.</p><div><strong>— with a report from Dave Abuel, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><strong> WATCH</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1786925" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div class="infogram-embed" data-id="_/XwlOyN6W2yUc4AnE9xPq" data-title="COVID-19 cases - 1" data-type="interactive"> </div><script type="text/javascript">!function(e,i,n,s){var t='InfogramEmbeds',d=e.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement('script');o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src='https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js',d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,'infogram-async');</script>

September became the Philippines' worst month so far in its COVID-19 fight after breaking records and posting a total of over half a million new virus cases, compounded by the community transmission of the more virulent Delta variant. 

September overtakes August as worst month so far in PH COVID-19 fight

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September overtakes August as worst month so far in PH COVID-19 fight

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 01, 2021 06:22 PM PHT

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Updated October 02, 2021 12:56 AM PHT

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