OCTA: COVID-19 positivity rate in Metro Manila rises to 9.2%

MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 seven-day positivity rate in Metro Manila rose to 9.2% from 7.8% in the past week, pandemic monitoring group OCTA Research said Thursday.

Positivity rate refers to the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come out positive.

The World Health Organization recommends that the proportion of COVID-19 tests coming back positive remains below 5% to ensure that the spread of the coronavirus is under control.

“Unless the trends change, this looks like the start of another wave of infections in the National Capital Region as cases will likely start increasing again,” OCTA Research fellow Guido David said.

The Department of Health reported 8,004 additional COVID-19 infections from November 14 to 20. The number of cases averaged 1,143 in the past week, which was 12% lower than the number of infections logged from November 7 to 13.

The Philippines has registered more than 4.02 million cases, with 64,504 deaths, since the pandemic started. 

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