The number of daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) is now on a downward trend, experts studying the pandemic in the country said.

In their latest monitoring report issued Sunday, April 25, OCTA Research Group said the reproduction number of COVID-19 in the National Capital Region (NCR) decreased to 0.93 for the week of April 18 to 24.

The reproduction number refers to the number of people that a single COVID-19 patient can infect.

“The average number of new COVID-19 cases reported per day in the NCR was 3,841 over the past week, with a one-week growth rate of -20 percent,” the OCTA report said.

“The current average ratio is also 30 percent lower than the average of 5,552 during the peak of the three weeks ago,” it added.

Experts noted that the positivity rate in Metro Manila over the past week was 19 percent, from an average of 26,120 tests conducted daily—a notable drop from the region’s positivity rate of 25 percent three weeks ago.

However, the figure is still way above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of below 5 percent.

Moreover, OCTA reported that hospital bed occupancy in the NCR decreased to 61 percent while intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy also declined to 71 percent.

Aside from Metro Manila, other provinces with negative growth rate are Calabarzon (-12 percent), Central Luzon (-4 percent), Cagayan Valley (-2 percent), Western Visayas (-24 percent), and Central Visayas (-2 percent).

Meanwhile, the growth rate of new COVID-19 cases for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was measured at 5 percent, while other provinces has about 3 percent.