MANILA, Philippines — There was no spike in Covid-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) after the holiday season and the feast of the Black Nazarene, according to the OCTA Research group.
In its latest report, the group said that the trend of coronavirus cases in the capital region has “leveled off” and that the R naught or the reproduction number in Covid-19 cases remained at 1 over the past week.
Meanwhile, NCR’s positivity rate remained at four percent with an average of 17,000 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests per day, the group added.
“Week to week, the average number of Covid-19 cases in NCR remained nearly the same, from 382 to 379, based on DOH case reports,” the report read.
“Except for the pre-holiday increase in new Covid-19 cases in NCR, there was no spike due to the holidays or the Black Nazarene festival,” the report added.
Previously, medical groups feared that the annual feast could turn into a “superspreader” event where a single infected person infects many others on contact, leading to huge clusters of cases.
READ: Nazarene feast may turn into ‘superspreader’ if . . .
The group further said that while NCR’s situation is “manageable” at the moment, an R naught of less than one needs to be sustained to consider loosening restrictions next month.
“We must and we will move to a better normal, but this has to start with bringing the R naught down below one and sustain a downward trend for at least two weeks.
Acting socioeconomic planning secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said that he believes that Metro Manila would be able to shift to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) by March as the planned vaccination drive, he said, would greatly improve confidence in the country’s healthcare system.
READ: Expect restrictions to ease in March, says Neda chief
Currently, Metro Manila and six other regions are under general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of February.
READ: Metro Manila, CAR, 6 other areas under GCQ in February – Palace
But a member of the OCTA Research group, Guido David, warned that the government should not rush to ease the community quarantine in Metro Manila.
READ: OCTA Research warns vs rushing easing of quarantine in Metro Manila by March
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