No escalation of alert levels seen – OCTA

MANILA, Philippines — The OCTA Research Group does not see an escalation of alert levels or imposition of lockdowns despite the recent uptick in new COVID-19 cases.

“Cases are rising, the positivity rate is increasing… But the health care utilization remains low, so there’s some positive to this. We’re not foreseeing any lockdown or escalation of alert levels,” OCTA fellow Guido David told “The Chiefs” over Cignal TV’s One News on Friday night.

“But definitely, we need to be careful. We should be aware that cases are on the rise,” David said.

Earlier last Friday, David noted an increase in the positivity rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nine other provinces, including Cavite, which had a “high” 13.2 percent on June 29 from a “moderate” 5.9 percent on June 24.

Despite the high positivity rate, he noted that the province only had 87 new cases on Friday.

Meanwhile, the NCR had 592 cases out of the 1,243 recorded nationwide that day.

David noted that this is within the earlier projections that he made.

“We don’t think it will reach the same levels as in January or the surges last year,” he said.

The OCTA fellow earlier said that an ongoing “weak surge” may peak within the first half of the month.