The less than five percent positivity rate in Metro Manila is now ideal and shows the decreasing number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the region, the OCTA Research Group said Monday, Nov. 1.

In a virtual briefing, Dr. Guido David said noted that the government is currently "testing enough."

"Less than five percent means we are testing enough and it also means our positivity rate dropped all the way from 25 percent at the peak of the surge to five percent now, it means the lack of testing is no longer a big factor. In fact, we have enough testing right now," David reiterated in a mix of Filipino and English.

"Every time there's a surge, our testing capacity increases, but when the trend of cases decreases, our testing also decreases in accordance with lesser, fewer cases. So it means we're seeing an actual trend that the cases are actually decreasing. Our testings are decreasing because our cases are also decreasing," he added.

David said the decline in COVID-19 infections is not only seen in Metro Manila, but in other regions as well.

He noted that there are some local government units (LGU) in Metro Manila with a positive growth rate, but the reproduction number in all LGUs is below one.

"It means all LGUs have a downward trend in the number of cases," he added.

Based on the data, David said businesses in Metro Manila could "safely reopen at this time."

"We are not seeing any variant threatening us right now, what we hear is this Delta Plus AY 4.2 which is in the UK and in Russia, it's not here yet, besides it's a lineage of the Delta variant, so our threats are few," he stressed.

"Our vaccination rate in Metro Manila is high, 96 percent of the adult population already got their first dose and I think 80 plus percent are already fully vaccinated, which means the chance of resurgence is decreasing because many are already protected."