Residents of Quezon City will have a "merrier" Christmas this year, according to independent research group OCTA.
This is due to the decline in the city’s daily average of new COVID-19 cases from 24 to 17.
In a report released on Friday, Dec. 17, OCTA said the 7-day average of new COVID cases in the city for the week of Dec. 10 to 16 was 28 percent lower than the week of Dec. 3 to 9.
It added that it is the lowest daily average from the week of March 21 to 27 of 2020.
Quezon City’s reproduction number as of Dec.13 is at 0.36 which is considered very low and the current incidence rate or average daily attack rate (ADAR) is at 0.53 cases per day per 100,000 population.
OCTA also reported that the city’s hospital utilization rate is at 31 percent which is considered “low” but just a "hair away from very low.”
Quezon City currently conducts an average of 3,202 RT-PCR tests per day.
As of Wednesday, Dec.15, the number of active cases in the city is at 257.
However, even with the city’s ‘very low’ overall risk level, OCTA Research urged the public to remain vigilant and follow minimum public health standards during the holiday season.