COVID-19 cases may have ‘peaked’ already in Metro Manila, Iloilo — OCTA Research

MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and Iloilo may have already reached their peak, according to independent analytics group OCTA Research on Friday.

This may be the case as the COVID-19 growth rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Iloilo have dropped.

Metro Manila’s growth rate lowered to 1 percent from the 5 percent recorded last August 9.

The growth rate in Iloilo, meanwhile, dipped to -13 percent from -3 percent logged from July 29 to August 4.

“In Iloilo, the growth rate is negative indicating cases may have peaked already,” David told INQUIRER.net in a message.

“In the NCR, the growth rate is just at 1% which could mean cases are close to peaking or may have already peaked,” he added, noting that the trends need to be consistent for at least two weeks.

In an earlier interview on Teleradyo’s Sakto, however, David said that cases have already peaked in NCR and Iloilo.

“‘Yung nakikita namin, ito nga, nag-peak na sa Metro Manila. Hopefully, tuloy-tuloy na ‘yan pero sa Metro Manila and sa Iloilo, and maybe a few provinces pa lang ‘yun,” he said on the interview.

(Cases have peaked in Metro Manila, Iloilo, and maybe a few provinces. Hopefully, it will continue.)

The Philippines registered 4,533 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday. Of the figure, 1,226 were in Metro Manila and 170 in Iloilo.

In other provinces, on the other hand, cases are still increasing and have not reached their peak yet.

“Other provinces are not yet seeing a downward trend,” David said.

The positivity rate in Metro Manila, however, stood at 16.5 percent as of August 10, said David.

The positivity rate is way above the World Health Organization’s recommended threshold of 5 percent.

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