OCTA: COVID-19 case spike outside NCR likely to last at least a month

The increase in COVID-19 cases in parts of Mindanao and Visayas will likely last for at least a month, experts from the OCTA Research group said Wednesday.

Professor Guido David said it took around two months to contain the previous case spikes in Metro Manila and Cebu City.

“Usually mga at least one month inaabot ng surge sa isang locality (A surge in a locality usually lasts a month)… For a small LGU, usually one month at least pero (but) sometimes it could take up to two months even with heightened restrictions,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.

In their monitoring report on Monday, the independent group of experts flagged the cities of Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Koronadal, Cotabato, and Davao as “areas of concern” due to their high number of infections. 

OCTA said cases in Koronadal nearly doubled, grew by 54% in Davao, and rose by 62% in Cotabato.

David on Tuesday said Davao City has surpassed Quezon City in having the highest average number of daily COVID-19 cases.

Professor Ranjit Rye warned that the spike in infections could soon translate to high hospital occupancy rates if no actions are taken.

“Ang panawagan namin sa national government, magpadala na tayo ng tao diyan, magpadala na tayo ng equipment, magpadala na tayo ng suporta natin dito sa mga lugar na ‘to,” he said.

(Our call for the national government is to deploy personnel, equipment, and support to these areas.)

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said more vaccines would be sent and additional health facilities would be set up in areas facing an uptick in infections. 

The agency is also looking into the deployment of health workers from Metro Manila to other regions.  

Earlier on Wednesday, the DOH refused to identify Davao City as the “epicenter” of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. 

The country has 1,280,773 COVID-19 infections with 1,202,257 recoveries and 22,064 deaths as of Tuesday. —KG, GMA News