NCR’s COVID-19 cases up by 7% from last week —OCTA

The National Capital Region (NCR) recorded an uptick in COVID-19 infections in the recent week as its growth rate increased by 7% compared to the previous week, independent monitoring group OCTA Research said on Sunday.

In a tweet, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David showed data that Metro Manila's seven-day average in new COVID-19 cases increased from 79 during the April 17–23 period to 85 during the week from April 24–30.

The NCR’s reproduction number also went up during the same covered periods, from 0.66 to 0.79.

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.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate in the region remained at 1.4% with over an average of 11,544 tests per day.

The positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested.

Healthcare utilization for COVID-19 patients in NCR, on the other hand, is still “very low” at 21%, while the intensive care unit (ICU) utilization is at 19%.

Despite the increase in cases, David said that the NCR remains at “low risk” for COVID-19 as of April 30.

There were 253 new cases reported on Sunday, bringing the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country to 5,967. — BM, GMA News