MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila spiked to 53 percent last week, independent analytics group Octa Research said on Tuesday.
Octa Research fellow Guido David said that growth is “more concerning” as the previous weeks’ increases were only 10 percent.
“More concerning na nga siya. Kasi nung mga nakaraan na linggo, tumataas ‘yung bilang ng kaso pero bahagya lang ‘yung tinataas, 10 percent lang ‘yung tinataas kada linggo,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(It is more concerning. Because in the weeks prior, the cases were slightly increasing at 10 percent each week.)
“Ngayon, the past week, 53 percent ‘yung tinaas, from mga 10 percent to 53 percent (Now last week, the increase is 53 percent from 10 percent),” he added.
David noted that some indicators showed COVID-19 infections are rising.
READ: DOH sees ‘unsustained’ uptick in Metro Manila COVID-19 cases
“Sa ngayon, ang nakikita natin patuloy ang pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso at medyo bumibilis pa siya sa Metro Manila,” he said.
(Currently, we are observing a continuous rise in the number of cases and the rise is somewhat fast in Metro Manila.)
The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases swelled from 86 to 131 infections per day.
The reproduction number — or the number of new cases that may arise from one patient — rose to 1.59, higher than experts’ ideal figure of less than one.
The positivity rate likewise climbed from 2.2 percent to 2.9 percent, still within the World Health Organization’s recommendation of less than five percent.
David also said that the average daily attack rate — or the average number of new cases per 100,000 individuals — and the healthcare utilization rate are also rising.
To date, Metro Manila is at low risk for COVID-19. However, David said that the capital region may be under moderate risk next week due to the ballooning infections.
READ: Metro Manila now at low risk for COVID-19 transmission – OCTA
“At this time, nasa low risk pa tayo sa Metro Manila, green pa siya. Pero by next week, we’re projecting nasa moderate risk na tayo, yellow,” he said.
(At this time, we are still at low risk in Metro Manila, it is still green. But by next week, we’re projecting that we will be at moderate risk, yellow.)
The country registered 386 fresh COVID-19 infections on Monday, of which 188 were in Metro Manila.
READ: DOH posts 386 new COVID-19 cases; active now at 3,097