QC records 3-week drop in average count of COVID-19 cases – UP experts

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City, the largest city in Metro Manila, has recorded a three-week decline in the average number of coronavirus disease cases, according to the University of the Philippines’ (UP) experts.

Quezon City government statement showed that the UP OCTA Research group reported an average of 540 cases of COVID-19 from Aug. 10 to Aug. 16 in Quezon City.

This number decreased to 456 from Aug. 17 to Aug. 23. From 456, it again dropped to 372 from Aug. 24 to 30 and declined to 205 from Aug. 1 to Sept. 6.

Quezon City’s Reproduction Number (Ro) also decreased for five straight weeks from 1.47 (July 27 to Aug. 2) to 0.92 (Aug. 31 to Sept. 6) which means the movement of the virus slowed down. The Ro indicates the average number of people who are expected to get infected with the virus.

Despite the development of cases, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte vowed that they would “double” their efforts in suppressing the community transmission of the virus.

“This is a most welcome development. This means that the collective actions of the city government, private sector and residents to control the virus are working,” Belmonte said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Despite the downward trend, efforts must still be doubled. We should not let our guard down and push further our efforts to combat the spread of the virus,” she added.

Among the COVID-19 efforts in Quezon City are increasing testing capacity, enhancing contact tracing within 24 hours, adding more quarantine centers and bed capacity in hospitals.

As of Sept. 8, Data from the Department of Health showed that Quezon City remained the highest in the total number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region.

The city has 13,604 cases of COVID-19 with 2,763 active cases. Of the total, 10,392 are recoveries while 449 are deaths. [ac]

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