OCTA: NCR's COVID-19 growth rate at 3% as reproduction number slips to 1.25

Metro Manila’s COVID-19 case growth appeared to have slowed based on the latest monitoring of the independent expert group OCTA Research.

OCTA fellow Guido David said in a Twitter post that the National Capital Region (NCR) had an average of 5,710 daily cases from September 10 to 16, an increase of just 3% from the previous week (September 3 to 9).

The reproduction number, which refers to the number of people that each case can infect, stood at 1.25, down from 1.28 a day earlier. The positivity rate remained at 25%.

Earlier, OCTA said NCR had an average of 5,819 daily COVID-19 cases from September 9 to 15, with a growth rate of 9%.

The NCR recorded 5,846 new infections on September 16, taking the total number of active cases to 50,074, according to government data.

Authorities on Thursday began the pilot implementation of an alert level system for COVID-19 response.

Metro Manila is under Alert Level 4, the second highest alert level, as case counts are high or increasing, with total COVID-19 beds and intensive care beds at increasing utilization rates.

Granular lockdowns will be implemented under this alert level.

On Wednesday, Metro Manila Council chairperson and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the presence of one COVID-19 case would be enough to impose a lockdown on a house or a condominium floor.

To impose a lockdown on an entire street, Olivarez said there should be at least two cases.

The pilot implementation will run until September 30, and if successful, the alert level system will also be implemented in other parts of the country. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News