MANILA— All regions in the Philippines are now classified to be under minimal risk for COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

The country first achieved minimal risk case classification on Dec. 6, with majority of the regions classified as low risk for COVID-19.

All regions except Bicol region and Soccsksargen showed negative growth rates for the past week, said Dr. Althea de Guzman, director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau. The two regions are being monitored if their cases will continue to increase for 2 weeks, she added.

"This decline in cases is reflected in our utilization rates, may it be total bed utilization or ICU utilization," she told reporters.

All provinces remain under Alert Level 2 while the DOH is monitoring Lapu-Lapu City and General Santos City after these reported a 2-week growth rate, according to De Guzman.

Active cases nationwide might decline to 1,766 by Jan. 31 if the current practice of minimum public health standards (MPHS) is retained, while it may increase up to 9,388 if the public becomes lax, said De Guzman, citing projections made on Dec. 11 with 11,373 active infections.

In Metro Manila, active cases might decline to 148 by Jan. 31 if current mobility and MPHS are maintained, while it may reach up to 325 if mobility is increased and MPHS are not followed, De Guzman added.

"This slight increase in active cases may continue kung ang pagtaas ng ating paggalaw ay tuloy-tuloy at sasabayan ng pagbaba ng ating MPHS compliance at posibleng bumalik tayo sa dami ng cases na nire-report natin dati," she said.

(This slight increase in active cases may continue if our mobility continuously increases and our MPHS compliance declines. We might go back to the number of cases we reported in the past.)

"Napakahalaga na (It's important that) even with these projections for NCR (National Capital Region) we don’t let our guards down."

The Philippines has yet to detect the omicron variant, the latest variant said to be highly transmissible, and the delta variant still prevails, she added.

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Authorities are monitoring areas with rising cases as the country prepares for the entry of the omicron variant, according to De Guzman.

At least 77 countries have reported cases of the new COVID-19 variant, which "may be over 10 times more transmissible" than the original variant or 4.2 times more transmissible than the delta variant, De Guzman said.

Local governments are urged to continuously find active infections and isolate them immediately, while the public is urged to get vaccinated and to seek early consult if they experience COVID-19 symptoms, De Guzman added.

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