The number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in Metro Manila could further decrease to less than 200 by the end of the month, an OCTA Research fellow said on Saturday, Feb. 19.
“Ang projection natin for National Capital Region (NCR) sa katapusan nitong February ay maaaring bumaba to less than 200. Between 100 to 200, ‘yan ang projection namin. Mukhang on track naman tayo sa projection na ito (Our projection for NCR is that by the end of February, the number of cases could drop to less than 200. Between 100 to 200, that is our projection. It looks like we are on track with this projection),” said OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David in an interview over DZBB.
Meanwhile, David said that by the end of February or early March, the number of infections in the Philippines may further decrease to 1,000 per day.
“Magandang balita ito. magandang indicators natin supports yung pagluluwag natin to Alert Level 1. Decision ‘yan ng Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) pero base sa indicators ay wala na tayong nakikitang risks masyado (This is good news. Good indicators support the relaxation of our status to Alert Level 1. This will be the decision of the IATF but based on the indicators, we are not seeing so many risks),” he added.
David, in a Twitter post on Saturday morning, Feb. 19, said that the COVID-19 indicators and trends in Metro Manila have improved but the region remained at a low risk classification.
However, despite the decreasing number of infections, the expert urged the public to continue adhering to the minimum public health standards to avoid the viral transmission of the disease.
“Hindi naman ibig sabihin na dapat ay maging kampante tayo. Kailangan ay patuloy pa rin ang pagbaba ng kaso at nandyan pa rin ang virus at meron pa ring mahahawaan pero kung mag-iingat tayo at sumunod lang tayo sa safety protocols, kahit mag Alert Level 1 na tayo ay baka tuluy-tuloy na ang pagbaba ng kaso (This does not mean that we should be complacent. We still need to ensure that the number of cases continue to decrease and on the other hand, the virus is still there and there are still infections. However, if we will be careful and we will follow the safety protocols, the number of infections may continue to decrease even under Alert Level 1),” David reiterated.