Metro Manila now classified as 'low-risk' area for COVID-19, says OCTA

As the situation in the region continues to improve, the OCTA Research Group on Wednesday, Feb. 9, said that Metro Manila could now be classified as "low-risk" for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"As predicted two weeks ago, NCR improves to low risk as of February 9, 2022," OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said in an update via Twitter.
The research group assesses the risk level of an area using the indicators of the COVID Act Now that was developed by the Harvard Global Health Institute, Apple, Microsoft, and Bloomberg.
David noted that the COVID-19 reproduction number or infection rate in Metro Manila has decreased to 0.25 while hospital utilization has improved to 29.6 percent.
Moreover, the positivity rate, or the number of individuals who yielded positive results from among those who were tested for COVID-19, has decreased to 9.1 percent, while the average daily attack rate or incidence rate has dropped to 6.67 cases a day per 100,000 people.
David on Monday, Feb. 7, said that if the downward trends continue, Metro Manila may see less than 200 new cases per day by the end of February.