Amid the increasing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections, Metro Manila's daily testing positivity rate is now up to 5 percent for the first time since Oct. 24, 2021, the independent research group OCTA said on Tuesday evening, Dec. 28.
Positivity rate refers to the number of individuals who yielded positive results from among those who were tested for COVID-19.
"The seven-day positivity rate in the NCR (National Capital Region) is now at 2.4 percent," OCTA research fellow Dr. Guido David said in a tweet.
This is significantly higher than the average seven-day testing positivity rate of 1.68 percent in OCTA's monitoring report released on Tuesday morning.
Moreover, the reproduction number in Metro Manila increased to 1.03.
Reproduction number refers to the average number of secondary infections by each infected individual.
"There is now concern that this is not just a holiday uptick. Please be advised that the situation is changing in the NCR and we must now be very mindful of minimum public health standards. Stay safe everyone," David said.
He projected that new COVID-19 cases in the country may reach 1,200 by Wednesday, Dec. 29 with at least 400 cases in Metro Manila.
The Department of Health on Tuesday recorded 421 new COVID-19 infections nationwide, bringing the country’s running tally of confirmed cases to 2,839,111.