The average number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Metro Manila is projected to decrease between 1,700 and 1,800 cases per day by the end of the week, a member of the OCTA Research Team said on Monday, May 10.
But the expert warned that while there has been a decline in the number of cases in the region, the downward trend might reverse if people would let their guard down and ignore minimum public health standards.
OCTA Research fellow Prof. Guido David said that the average daily number of cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the past week was 2,034 or 63 percent lower compared to the figures during the peak of the surge last month.
“We are hoping that by the end of this week nasa 1,700 to 1,800 na lang per day sa NCR (there will be only about 1,700 to 1,800 cases per day in NCR),” David said in a DZBB interview Monday.
“Hindi pa naman tayo tapos na tapos na sa problema (We are not done with the problem yet), but the downward trend is very encouraging,” he said.
“Gusto nating ma sustain ‘yan para hindi tayo magbalik sa dating naranasan natin (We want to sustain the trend so that we would not return to what we have experienced before),” he added.
David noted that the reproduction number in the metropolis dropped to 0.66, while the positivity rate in the region over the past week decreased to 14 percent, from an average of 23,100 tests conducted per day.
“Maganda naman ‘yung nakikitang downward trend sa NCR. Three weeks na tayong patuloy na bumababa (The downward trend we are seeing in NCR is good. We have been seeing a decline in cases for three weeks now),” he said.
Although there has been a downward trend in the number of cases, the expert pointed out that the trend is reversible and cases might increase again if people will be complacent.
“Hindi ibig sabihin na pababa na, patuloy na yung bababa kahit anong gawin natin (It does not mean that it is going down, it will continue to go down no matter what we do),” David said.
“Kaya importante we have to follow pa rin yung health protocols para hindi na tumaas ulit yung number of cases (So it is important that we still follow the health protocols so that the number of cases will not increase again),” he added.