The rapid increase in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing positivity rate in Metro Manila over the past few days has slowed down likely due to a decrease in social and mass gatherings leading up to New Year's eve, OCTA Research Fellow Dr. Guido David said on Sunday, Jan. 2.
The positivity rate refers to the number of individuals who yielded positive results from among those who were tested for COVID-19.
In an update via Twitter, David said that the daily positivity rate in Metro Manila has slightly increased to 28.7 percent on Jan. 2, from 28 percent on Jan. 1.
This means that for every 100 people tested, 28.7 percent tested positive for COVID-19.
"Due to lower testing output, this projects to a decrease in new cases in the NCR (National Capital Region) on January 3 to about 2,000 to 2,500, and 3,000 to 3,500 new cases in the Philippines," David said.
The OCTA fellow on Sunday also expressed concern over the increasing number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive individuals admitted into the hospitals, which has almost doubled in the past week.
"The number of occupied hospital beds for COVID-19 in the NCR increased to 41 percent over a span of one week, from 1,381 on Dec. 24 to 1,942 on Dec. 31," David said.
"Overall, hospital bed occupancy in the NCR is at 23 percent while ICU occupancy is at 25 percent, both are considered to be very low at this time," he pointed out.
David explained that hospital occupancy is considered at a critical level once it reaches 70 percent.