COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila down to 105 daily

MANILA, Philippines — The number of new COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila has continued to decrease, with the OCTA Research Group projecting a good Christmas season.

Citing data from the Department of Health, OCTA said yesterday the National Capital Region recorded an average of 105 new cases of COVID-19 per day from Dec. 1 to 7, down from 123 cases in the preceding week.

The number of new COVID-19 cases translates to an average daily attack rate of 0.74 per 100,000 population, considered as “very low” based on OCTA’s metrics.

OCTA said other indicators such as reproduction number, healthcare utilization and positivity rates are also within the ideal standards.

Metro Manila has been classified as “very low risk” based on covidactnow.org metrics used by the independent research group.

According to OCTA, 11 local government units were  tagged as very low risk. These are Malabon, Navotas, Caloocan, Pateros, Valenzuela, Marikina, Manila, Parañaque, Pasay, Las Piñas and Mandaluyong.

Muntinlupa, Makati, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig and San Juan were classified as “low risk” primarily due to healthcare utilization and average daily attack rate.

OCTA has said Filipinos may expect a better holiday season with the continued decline in COVID-19 cases due to mass vaccination, effective implementation of the alert level system and public compliance with health protocols.

Pateros COVID-free

Meanwhile, the municipality of Pateros has maintained its COVID-free status for five straight days.

As of Dec. 4, Pateros has not recorded any case of COVID-19 based on data from the municipal health office. It is the first local government unit in Metro Manila to achieve such status.

To ensure that Pateros will remain free of COVID-19, Mayor Miguel Ponce III said the local government would continue implementing health protocols, especially during the Christmas season.

Pateros has registered a total of 7,952 COVID-19 cases with 7,846 recoveries, 106 deaths and zero active cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. –  Ghio Ong