COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila on steady decline – OCTA

MANILA, Philippines — The number of COVID-19 cases per day in Metro Manila appears to be steadily decreasing, with the growth rate at negative one percent, the OCTA Research Group announced yesterday.

OCTA fellow Guido David said the virus reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) dropped to 2.67 from a peak of 6.16 over the past 11 days.

Citing data from the Department of Health, David said the NCR registered 15,959 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 16, lower than the 18,422 cases recorded on Jan. 15.

“In the meantime, the daily growth rate of the seven-day moving average has decreased to -1 percent,” David noted.

He said the COVID-19 growth rate in Metro Manila was at 11, five, three and two percent in the past four days.

Guido said the downward trend in COVID-19 infections indicates that cases in the NCR have peaked.

“But the possibility still remains that visibility of the COVID situation in the NCR is clouded because of limitations in testing,” he said.

OCTA said there is a need to monitor the trends in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila in the coming days to see if cases would decrease further.