OCTA: NCR positivity rate may reach 20 percent

MANILA, Philippines — With COVID-19 testing significantly lower than in previous years, a member of the OCTA Research group said that the positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) may reach up to 20 percent in the coming weeks.

As of April 26, OCTA fellow Guido David said the region’s seven-day positivity rate is at 13.4 percent, up from 8.4 percent on April 19.

The positivity rate measures the percentage of positive results out of the total number of RT-PCR tests conducted.

The World Health Organization recommends a positivity rate of five percent or below to effectively manage the pandemic.

Last week, David said the NCR averages only 3,120 RT-PCR tests per day, down from around 11,000 in April 2022.

The low number of RT-PCR tests conducted, coupled with rising cases, is seen to have contributed to the spike in the region’s positivity rate.

Nevertheless, confirmed cases remain low, with NCR reporting 274 new cases on Thursday, up from 197 the day before.

OCTA earlier said that actual cases may actually be higher since official data only include RT-PCR test results and not those from the more popular antigen tests.