Octa: No need to tighten restrictions yet in NCR despite uptick in COVID cases

MANILA, Philippines — There is no need to tighten restrictions yet in Metro Manila despite the recent uptick of COVID-19 cases in the region, the independent pandemic monitor Octa Research Group said Monday.

Dr. Guido David, an Octa fellow, said that while the COVID-19 reproduction number of NCR doubled from 0.44 recorded last week to 0.85, this remains less than 1, which is still considered a good indicator.

“Hindi pa naman talagang pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso ‘yung nakikita natin. ‘Yung trend, hindi pa solid ‘yung trend na pataas,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(We are not yet seeing a significant increase in cases. The upward trend is not that solid, thus far.)

David said the uptick may just be caused by the holiday season since people are going to more social gatherings and cases may go down eventually.

“There’s no need to increase restrictions at this time. Sa ngayon, hindi pa tayo pwede gumawa ng premature interventions kasi hindi pa natin nakikita ‘yung buong larawan,” he added.

(For now, we can’t implement premature interventions because we are not yet seeing the whole picture.)

The current number of cases may not yet reflect the true COVID-19 situation in the country since testing is lower due to the decreased operations of laboratories.

The trend of cases may be fully observed by January next year and if there is still an increase, it is when the government should “reassess the situation,” David said.

“Kung temporary uptick lang ‘yan dahil sa holidays, if bumaba ‘yan, walang cause for panic. Mawawala din siya,” he said.

(If that’s only a temporary uptick due to the holidays, if it goes down eventually, there’s no cause for panic. It will die down eventually.)

For now, he reminded Filipinos to not be complacent in complying with health protocols and urged those yet to be vaccinated against the disease to get inoculated.

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