THE National Capital Region (NCR) continues to see improvement in its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic situation and is now on the brink of being classified as “very low” risk, the independent OCTA Research group said yesterday.
In a virtual press conference, the independent OCTA fellow Guido David noted that Metro Manila is currently at low risk from COVID-19, with its average daily attack rate still at “yellow” or moderate risk “but all other indicators are green (low risk).”
“NCR is getting close to very low risk,” David said.
The region’s average daily attack rate is at 2.58 per 100,000 population, while its reproduction rate is at 0.37.
On the other hand, its positivity rate has gone down to 3 percent.
“Preliminarily, I didn’t find any other time that we reached 3% in NCR until now. That’s quite an achievement,” said David.
At the same time, David said three cities in Metro Manila are now at very low risk status, and these are Navotas, Malabon, and Caloocan.
The other remaining 14 LGUs in NCR are under low risk classification.
“(It is notable) that Navotas has averaged 1 case per day for the past seven days, while Quezon City is already averaging less than triple digits at 90,” said David.
David said the possibility of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila can be considered as “insignificant” today because the decline in cases in the epicenter of the pandemic in the Philippines is not artificial but is supported by data.
“We are seeing a downward trend, not just in the number of cases but also in the positivity rate, and healthcare utilization rate. We are quite confident that the trend is clear. We don’t think they are artificial,” said David.
“Right now, cases are down. As long as people are mindful of the health protocols, we are not seeing a significant threat in a rise in cases,” he added.
And even in the event that a sudden surge in cases happen, the OCTA fellow believes that it would be easy to make adequate responses.
He said this is due to the gradual reopening of the economy being undertaken by the government.
“There may be risks, but we can always calibrate our strategy when we see a spike in cases. We can push back some of the restrictions that were eased up if it comes to that,” he said.
Last week, Malacañang placed NCR under Alert Level 2 until November 21.
