COVID cases spike in some areas may be due to overcrowding —OCTA study

Increases in COVID-19 infections in several Philippine provinces might be due to evacuation center crowding, the OCTA Research group said Wednesday.

Interviewed on "Balitanghali," Professor Guido David said spikes were recorded in Cagayan and Isabela, which were some of the provinces badly hit by Typhoon Ulysses' onslaught.

A series of typhoons hit Luzon in late October and early November, driving thousands of Filipinos to evacuation centers in the middle of a pandemic.

“Palagay namin, malaking dahilan talaga nga ‘yong sa evacuation kasi ang nakikita naming spike ngayon nasa Cagayan, Isabela, mayroon din sa Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte,” David said.

“The fact na nandiyan ang Cagayan, Isabela, ibig sabihin may kinalaman talaga doon sa evacuation kasi may delay effect talaga,” he added.

However, despite case increases in some provinces, he said the country’s reproduction number is still below 1.

“‘Di naman siya all over the country. In fact, pababa, ‘yong buong Pilipinas, pababa ‘yong bilang ng kaso,” he said.

Earlier, the OCTA Research team said the national reproduction number decreased to 0.91 during November 30 to December 6.

In Metro Manila, the reproduction number also decreased to 0.92, but experts said “it is within the margin of error and there is still a statistically probable that the reproduction number could be greater than 1 once late reports come in.”

The country has tallied 442,785 COVID-19 cases with 408,790 recoveries and 8,670 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon. —LBG, GMA News