Metro Manila may have less than 200 daily COVID-19 cases by end of November -- OCTA


(DR. GUIDO DAVID / TWITTER)

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in Metro Manila steadily improves, independent research group OCTA projected that the average number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the region could further decrease to less than 200 by the end of November.

Citing the report of the Department of Health, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said that Metro Manila only had 388 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, Nov. 8.

This translates to a seven-day average of 385 cases--the lowest since Feb. 13, 2021, which is just before the surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the Alpha and Beta variants, David said in a tweet.

David added that the country's COVID-19 reproduction number or the rate of virus transmission has dipped further to 0.38.

In another tweet, he pointed out that nearly all COVID indicators in Metro Manila are looking "better now" than it was at this time last year.

David compared Metro Manila's COVID-19 numbers during the period Nov. 1-7, 2021 versus the numbers on Nov. 1-7, 2020.

Aside from improvements in the seven-day average number of new cases and reproduction number, OCTA also observed a lower average daily attack rate or incidence rate (2.86 cases per 100,000 in 2021 versus 3.63 cases per 100,000 in 2020); active cases (6,484 cases in 2021 versus 10,722 cases in 2020); and positivity rate (4 percent in 2021 versus 6 percent in 2020).

He said that the lower COVID-19 cases can be attributed to the vaccine rollout this year.

However, David appealed to the public to continue to adhere to the minimum public health protocols to prevent a resurgence in infections.