The coronavirus reproduction number in the Philippines further declined to 1.03 from 1.20 a week ago, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said on Friday, Sept. 24.
"Reproduction number in the country at 1.03 with - (negative) 13 percent growth rate. The seven-day average of new cases continues to decline now at 17.6k (17,600)," David said in a tweet.
He pointed out that the one-week growth rate of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country was -2 percent a week ago.
In the past few weeks, OCTA has also observed a consistent downtrend in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
Earlier on Friday, David said that the reproduction number of COVID-19 in Metro Manila further decreased to 0.97 from 0.99.
"The NCR had a reproduction number of 0.97 and growth rate of - 22 percent," David said.
From Sept. 17 to 23, Metro Manila averaged 4,480 daily cases, while its average daily attack rate (ADAR) or incidence rate was 32.08 cases per 100,000 population.
David also noted that all 17 local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila had "negative" one-week growth rates, while 13 LGUs had reproduction numbers of less than 1.
"Of the 17 Metro Manila LGUs, Navotas had the lowest reproduction number of 0.57 and lowest ADAR of 15.89 daily cases per 100,000 population," David said.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday noted that the spread of infections is slowing down but that the number of cases is still continuously increasing.
It has been declared that Metro Manila is now down to "moderate" risk for COVID-19 due to a slight decline in the number of cases in the past few weeks.