NCR lowers weekly COVID-19 growth rate to -20% but still at ‘critical risk’ —OCTA

Metro Manila's weekly COVID-19 growth rate decreased to -20% from -10% but the region is still at critical risk, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said Thursday.

On Twitter, David said that the reproduction number or  the transmission rate of COVID-19 in the metropolis dropped to 1.58 from 1.79, while the region also recorded 9,455 fresh COVID-19 infections on Thursday.

"The one-week growth rate in the NCR decreased to -20%, while the reproduction number decreased to 1.58," he noted.

But David said Metro Manila is still classified as critical risk because it is averaging at 13,000 new cases each day.

For National Task Force against COVID-19 adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa, it is hard to tell if the virus cases are already at a downtrend, adding that they are still assessing the trend of infections.

Earlier, the Department of Health registered 31,173 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 3,324,478. Of the total case count, 53,153 are fatalities and 2,995,961 are recoveries.

With the current trend of infections, several government agencies are pushing for making vaccination available at workplaces as well as pharmacies. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News