COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila up by ‘just 3%‘ in one week

MANILA, Philippines — The number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila rose by “just 3%” in the past week, the OCTA Research team said Wednesday.

In its latest report, the group said Metro Manila recorded a daily average of 5,146 COVID-19 cases between March 31 and April 6, putting the one-week growth rate to 3%.

However, during the same period, Metro Manila was averaging 24,000 tests per day, which is 17% lower than the previous week’s average.

“This means that we are not seeing the complete picture with respect to growth rate and trends, and once late data comes in this week, there will be some corrections in the findings,” the group said.

OCTA also noted that the reproduction number in Metro Manila decreased to 1.43 while the reproduction number nationwide was at 1.45.

The group also pointed out the negative one-week growth rates in cities of Pasay, Makati, Manila, Taguig, Navotas, and Mandaluyong, while single-digit or even smaller growth rates were observed in Parañaque and Las Piñas.

These figures, however, are still subject to correction factors pending late testing reports due to the Holy Week.

“The positivity rate in the NCR remained at 25%, with slightly lower positivity rates observed in some cities (Pasay – 17%, Manila – 23%, Marikina – 23%, and Makati – 24%),” OCTA said.

Local government units in the NCR Plus bubble continue to experience high hospital bed and ICU utilization for COVID-19 patients.

Octa added that health care utilization rates would continue to remain high as said areas were expected to report a high daily number of COVID-19 cases for the succeeding weeks.

The alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and in four adjacent provinces prompted the government to impose an enhanced community quarantine in the area — collectively tagged as the NCR Plus bubble.

The ECQ was initially set to end on April 4 but was extended until April 11.

On Wednesday, the Philippines recorded 6,414 new infections, bringing the country’s COVID-19 tally to 819,164.

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