Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 3) — The OCTA research group said that the reproduction number in the National Capital Region increased to 0.68 from 0.57 over the past week.
This number refers to the number of people that can be infected by a person in a susceptible population.
During the week of May 26 to June 1, the 7-day average of new cases in Metro Manila had a growth rate of 8% to 1,135, “the first time the region had an increase since the peak of the surge, although the increase was slight,” OCTA said in its report released Wednesday.
Average attack rate in the capital region was also reported to be at 8.22 per 100,000, meaning it remains under moderate risk.
Both of the region’s healthcare utilization and ICU occupancy rates were at the safe level threshold of 60% during the period, recording 41% and 53%, respectively.
For the whole Philippines, reproduction number increased to 1.09, while 7-day average of new infections increased by 37% to 6,699. This was coming from 4,898 in the previous week which is the lowest daily average since the peak of the surge in April.
“The cause for this reversal in the downward trend is that the NCR Plus did not see a decrease in cases the past week that would counter the upward trends seen in many provinces and LGUs outside the NCR Plus bubble,” OCTA explained.
The group also noted that there were significant increases in new cases in areas within the NCR Plus, namely Antipolo, Rizal and Santa Rosa, Laguna. This group was earlier placed under strict community restrictions due to rising infections, before being relaxed in May.
“Outside the bubble, the areas of concern include Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo City, Tuguegarao, General Santos, Butuan, Batangas City and Tarlac City, all of which had significant upward trends over the past week,” OCTA noted.
Moreover, healthcare utilization rates in Iloilo City and Tuguegarao were at 88% and 91%, respectively, well above critical level of 85%. Rates were also high in Cagayan de Oro (75%), Zamboanga City (73%), Butuan (81%) and Tarlac City (77%).
Latest government data show that the country’s tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 1,240,716, of which 52,132 or 4.2% are active cases or currently ill patients.
