Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 23) — Aside from Metro Manila, some parts of Bulacan and Rizal have also recorded more COVID-19 cases amid the holiday season, the OCTA Research Team said Wednesday.
The municipality of Cainta and Antipolo City in Rizal province, as well as San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, which are all close to Metro Manila, have all showed an increase in cases a few days before Christmas, OCTA Research Group fellow Dr. Guido David said during Wednesday’s Laging Handa briefing.
“Makikita natin in the next few weeks kung magpapatuloy tumaas iyong bilang ng kaso sa mga lugar na ito,” David said.
[Translation: We will see in the next few weeks if the surge in cases will continue in these areas.]
From 2,091 COVID-19 cases last December 16, there are now a total of 2,147 infections in Cainta, with 51 active cases as of Wednesday.
Cases in Antipolo City also increased to 3,923 from 3,852 last December 16, with 89 active cases to date.
Meanwhile, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan has 1,699 total cases with 39 active cases from 18 barangays as of December 21.
The OCTA Research Team said in its latest report that Metro Manila’s reproduction rate (Ro) increased to 1.15 from the period of December 14-20, higher than the 1.06 Ro the following week. The data refers to the number of people to whom an infected person can potentially pass the virus.
“Actually, iyong increase ay nakikita natin sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng Metro Manila and notably nasa northern area. Iyong south part ay hindi pag nagkakaroon ng increase in cases,” David said.
[Translation: Actually, the increase can be seen in different parts of Metro Manila and notably in the northern area. The southern part has not shown an increase in cases so far.]
David said they are also monitoring a slight surge in Caloocan, Valenzuela, Quezon City, and Makati, and called on local government units to be wary about inter-city travels within the region to control the surge.
OCTA Research Group fellow Dr. Butch Ong said the Philippines may reach 500,000 COVID-19 cases by year-end, with up to 3,000 to 4,000 new cases per day. However, the surge may still be controlled by promoting local interventions that will prevent crowding.
As of Wednesday, the country’s COVID-19 cases have reached 464,004 with 1,196 more patients reported by the Department of Health. Twenty-seven new fatalities raised the death toll to 9,048, while 564 survivors brought the total recoveries to 429,972.
