OCTA: Metro Manila weekly positivity rate down to 17.3%
MANILA, Philippines — Less than one in every five COVID-19 tests in Metro Manila is coming back positive, independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research said Wednesday morning.
In a tweet advisory, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said that the seven-day positivity rate in the National Capital Region had continued dropping and was down to 17.3% as of October 10.
However, David also warned that new subvariants, increased mobility, and waning vaccine immunity could still be factors in the waning coronavirus surge in Metro Manila.
As it currently stands, just a little over 73.3 million Filipinos are completely vaccinated against COVID-19. However, only 20.1 million people have gotten booster shots.
"We hope that cases in the NCR continue to decrease, but with new sub-variants coming in, a wall of immunity that is not solid, and the increasing numbers in other parts of the country, we might expect to see more ups and downs in new Covid cases towards the end of the year," David said.
The reproduction number, which measures how many people one positive case can infect, is also down to 0.93, while the one-week case growth rate was negative at -16%. Healthcare utilization is also at 37%, which is considered low.
At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum also Wednesday morning, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said that the Inter-Agency Task Force was still studying proposals to redefine the meaning of full vaccination to include the administration of a COVID-19 booster shot.
"We must remember the virus is also changing...It's up to the president, but I think we're just right on track here [so] it will be studied very carefully, keeping in mind what's happening in the rest of the world," he said.
Earlier, DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Alethea De Guzman said that experts projected 1,204 cases a day by the end of October if cases “follow a continuous slow downward trend.”
“As we continually lift restrictions and as mobility further increases, the occurrence of cases and periodic spikes are inevitable. But vaccination will be central in ensuring minimal hospitalization with severe disease and as well as deaths,” De Guzman said.
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