Manila's weekly COVID-19 growth rate down by -7% —OCTA

The City of Manila has recorded the lowest number of new COVID-19 infections on Monday since January 4, with its seven-day average of new COVID-19 infections decreasing by 7%, independent monitoring group OCTA Research said.

In a tweet on Tuesday, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David noted that the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,210 new COVID-19 cases in Manila on January 17.

This is then the lowest recorded new COVID-19 infections in the city since January 4.

According to David, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Manila also went down by 7% from 1,958 to 1,829.

“The reproduction number in Manila decreased to 1.73, or less than 2 infections per infected individual, from 4.30 just a week prior,” he said.

The reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case. A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that the country, Metro Manila, and five other regions remain at critical risk for COVID-19 even as the growth rate of infections have been slowing down.

On Monday, OCTA reported that the daily growth rate of the seven-day COVID-19 moving average in the NCR has decreased to -1%.

“If new cases continue to decrease in Manila, there is a strong possibility that new cases in the NCR will decrease as well,” David said.

He however reminded the NCR residents to continue observing the minimum public health standards to sustain the “downward momentum.”

Alert Level 3 is currently in effect in NCR until January 31.

The Philippines registered 3,242,374 total COVID-19 infections, with 37,070 additional cases on Monday.

Of this number, 290,938 are active; 2,898,507 recovered; and 52,929 died. —KG, GMA News