The average daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the Philippines may be less than 1,000 cases by the end of November, OCTA research fellow Dr. Guido David said on Friday, Nov. 5.
In an update via Twitter, David noted that the seven-day average of new cases in the country is 45 percent lower than the previous week's average.
It has decreased to 2,816 from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.
"The last time the Philippines had a lower seven-day average was from March 2 to 8," David said.
Moreover, the country's reproduction number or infection rate decreased to 0.39.
"Based on current trends, there is a possibility that the seven-day average of new cases could decrease to less than 1,000 by end of November," David said.
OCTA's current projection is more optimistic than it was more than a week ago.
On Oct. 27, David projected that the daily cases could decrease to less than 2,000 by end of November.
Despite the decline in cases, David advised the public to continue following the minimum public health protocols and avoid the 3Cs--confined spaces with poor ventilation; crowded places with no physical distancing; and close-contact settings with face-to-face interaction.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Oct. 25 said the country's risk classification has improved from "moderate" to "low" after experiencing a surge in infections driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19.
The DOH on Nov. 4 reported 2,376 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total caseload to 2,797,986.