Metro Manila may be placed under Alert Level 1—the most lenient quarantine classification—by December if the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region continues to decline, the OCTA Research group said Thursday, Nov. 18.
Research fellow Prof. Guido David said the positivity rate of those tested for the virus in the National Capital Region (NCR) stood at 3 percent, which is still within the 5 percent standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Posible naman iyan sa datos kung patuloy pang bumaba ang mga kaso (That is possible based on the data if cases continue to decrease),” David said when he was asked if the region is ready to shift to the lowest alert level by December.
But he noted that it is up to the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Department of Health (DOH) to decide on what alert level status to be imposed over Metro Manila for the upcoming month.
“Nakikita natin bumababa pa yung risk level natin sa Metro Manila basta patuloy na bumababa yung bilang ng kaso (We see our risk level continue to drop in Metro Manila as long as the number of cases continues to decrease),” he said.
Metro Manila has been placed under Alert Level 2 until Nov. 30.
Continued decline in cases seen
The OCTA Research estimated that the average daily COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila may drop to 200 by the end of November as the region’s positivity rate is projected to hit 2 percent this week.
“The positivity rate is projected to improve to 2 percent this week,” David said.
“With such a low positivity rate, we project the NCR will continue to have a decline in new cases, with a target seven-day average of 200 new cases by the end of November,” he added.