The number of new Covid-19 cases per day in the country could be less than 500 by Holy Week, a fellow of the OCTA Research Group said on Saturday, March 19.

In a televised briefing, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Butch Ong said the country has maintained a “low average” of Covid-19 cases during the previous week.

“We hope nga na by Holy Week ay talagang mas bumaba pa sa 500 ang ating daily new cases. Pero sa ngayon ang ating reproduction number ay bahagyang tumaas, nasa 0.26. Pero that’s still quite good (We hope that by Holy Week, our daily new cases will actually drop to 500. But so far our reproduction number has risen slightly, at 0.26. But that’s still quite good),” Ong said.

“So we hope that pagpasok ng Abril na mag-i-steady na tayo sa below 500 na level. Of course, we are assuming na walang papasok na bagong variant of concern sa ating bansa (So we hope that as we enter April, our cases will already be steady at below 500 level. Of course, we are assuming that no new variant of concern will enter our country),” he added.

Ong added that the country may remain at “low to very low” risk classification for Covid-19 by April.

“Hopefully it keeps that way,” he said, citing that the country’s vaccination program has given Filipinos a substantial protection against Covid-19.

“So, para sa ating mga kababayan, sama-sama tayo sa paglaban natin sa Covid-19. Ang pandemyang ito ay matatalo natin kapag tayong lahat ay magbayanihan (for our countrymen, let us be together in our fight against Covid-19. We can defeat this pandemic when we practice cooperation). Together we will win this. As a society together, we will win this war against SARS-CoV-2,” Ong said.

He urged Filipinos to continue to wear mask, while he encouraged those who have not yet been vaccinated to get vaccinated and boosted.

“I hope that by this year, sana nga by this year ay mawala na ang Covid-19 pandemic, not only in our country but also across the globe (I hope that by this year, the Covid-19 pandemic will already end, not only in our country but also across the globe),” Ong said.