'Very slow' increase in COVID-19 cases seen in Metro Manila — OCTA
MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the previous week, but the increase in infections remains “very slow” at the moment, OCTA Research said Monday.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David said the daily average of new cases increased by 2% from May 23 to 29, compared to the previous week to 74 from 72 infections.
Metro Manila’s reproduction number — or the number of people an individual positive for COVID-19 can infect—rose to 1.08 from 1.02. Ideally, the reproductive number should be below one.
There were also slight increases in the one-week average daily attack rate to 0.52 from 0.51, and in the hospital utilization rate to 23% from 22%.
David also reported that positivity rate went up to 1.4% from 1.2%. The figure is still below the five-percent standard of the World Health Organization to indicate that a country can manage its COVID-19 cases.
Despite these increases, the capital region remained at low risk, David said.
“An uptick in cases is observed in the NCR, but the rate of increase in new COVID cases is very slow at this time,” he added.
Dr. John Wong, an epidemiologist with the government’s inter-agency task force, stressed the need for the government to accelerate the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations amid early signs of another surge in infections.
Over 69 million people in the country have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Of those who completed their primary series, only 13.8 million have gotten booster shots.
The DOH has confirmed more than 3.68 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started in 2020, with 60,455 deaths.
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