MANILA, Philippines — Recording 4,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day is “very possible” in Metro Manila if Filipinos won’t follow health protocols through the Christmas and New Year holidays, experts warned Wednesday.
In a televised Laging Handa Public Briefing, Dr. Guido David of the OCTA Research Group said that a surge in COVID-19 cases is in its early stages in Metro Manila particularly in cities from the northern part of the region like Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon, and Quezon City.
“Kasi kung tuluy-tuloy siyang tumaas pa, it’s very possible na ma-hit natin iyong 4,000 cases per day sa Metro Manila by sometime January or February kung patuloy-tuloy na tumaas kaya gusto nating iwasan iyon,” David said.
(If the surge continues, it is very possible that we will hit 4,000 new cases per day in metro Manila by January or February.)
The researchers noted that Metro Manila first hit 4,000 daily additional infections in August, which prompted the government to place the capital region under modified lockdown to avoid the collapse of the healthcare system’s capacity.
As of Wednesday, there are 464,004 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 429,972 recoveries and 9,048 deaths.