The Philippines may see between 5,000 to 6,000 cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) per day by the end of October, independent research group OCTA said Sunday, Oct. 17.
OCTA fellow Professor Guido David said the country’s reproduction number, which refers to the average number of secondary infections by each infected individual, stood at 0.64, with a nationwide seven-day average of 8,400 cases.
“Maaaring by the end of October baka nasa 5,000 na lang ‘yan, mga 5,000 to 6,000 (It is possible that by the end of October it will only be 5,000, about 5,000 to 6,000),” David said over TeleRadyo.
“So ‘yun ang gusto nating makita na bumababa ‘yung bilang ng kaso (So that's what we want to see that the number of cases decrease),” he added.
The expert said the country’s pandemic situation continues to improve as the number of new infections reported nationwide over the past few days were below 10,000.
Metro Manila
In the National Capital Region (NCR), David said the number of new cases in continues to drop, as its seven-day average stood at 1,681 cases, with a reproduction number of 0.58.
Citing data from the Department of Health (DOH), the OCTA fellow said that the hospital beds utilization in the metropolis was at 47 percent, but he noted that occupancy rate for intensive care units remains “high.”
Based on OCTA’s latest monitoring report, all localities in Metro Manila are now at “moderate-risk” classification for COVID-19).
The government has placed Metro Manila under Alert Level 3 from Oct. 16 to 31.