MANILA, Philippines — There is a possibility that COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila may have already peaked, OCTA Research fellow Guido David said Tuesday.
David, however, said that this is only a possibility and that “we will know for certain by next week.”
According to David, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Metro Manila has dropped from 14 percent on July 15 to 12 percent on July 17.
“Sa Metro Manila, may possibility na baka nag peak na. Paano natin nasabi yan? Pag tinitingnan natin yung daily positivity rate… yung pinakamataas noong July 15, bumaba na nung July 16 at 17,” David said during the Laging Handa briefing.
(In Metro Manila, there is a possibility that the cases may have peaked. If we look at the daily positivity rate… the highest was on July 15, and this declined on July 16 and 17.)
“Sa NCR pa lang ito… Ang ibig sabihin kung magtuloy-tuloy, ito baka pababa na yung trend natin sa Metro Manila,” he added.
(This is just in the NCR… This means that if this continues, maybe the trend is now going downwards in Metro Manila.)
David, however, stressed that the data only covers Metro Manila, and the same may not be the case in other areas in the country where COVID-19 infections are only beginning to rise.
“Hindi pa sa buong bansa necessarily kasi may mga regions pa na nagsisimula pa lang tumaas ang bilang ng kaso,” David said.
(This is not yet the case for the whole country because there are still regions where cases are starting to rise.)
‘Not alarming’
David said certain provinces in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) Central Luzon, and Western Visayas regions are recording an increase in COVID-19 infections and positivity rate.
He said the same is the case for the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Cagayan, and Isabela.
“Hindi naman ito alarming. We just want the public to be aware na may kaunting pagtaas sa mga areas na ito so kailangan ang pagi-ingat natin,” David said.
(This is not alarming. We just want the public to be aware that there is a slight increase in cases in these areas so we need to be careful.)
David said the current national new daily cases surpassing the 2,000 mark is still lower than the surge back in January this year.