The COVID-19 surge slowed down over the course of a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period in the National Capital Region (NCR), the OCTA Research group said on Sunday (Aug. 22).
According to the independent research group, the average number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila from Aug. 15 to 21 was 3,819 cases.
OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said in a Twitter post that COVID -19 cases have a reproduction rate of 1.45% from the previous 1.67%.
However, the seven-day average of 3,819 cases (from Aug. 15 to 21) was 24% higher than the previous 3,088 from (Aug. 8 to 14).
OCTA said the lockdown in the form of ECQ helped reduce the growth rate of new COVID-19 cases. However, the current rate of decrease of the reproduction number is slower than the rate of decrease in April.
“One possible explanation for this is the presence of a highly transmissible Delta variant,” the independent research group said.
“Another possible explanation is the higher mobility reported by the DOH during the recent ECQ,” it added.
In a radio interview, David said 20,000 cases in one day may be reached within the next two weeks.
“May epekto ang ECQ pero ‘di natin nakikita agad-agad ang pagbaba ng bilang ng kaso. Baka by first or second week of September, pababa na ang bilang ng kaso natin sa Metro Manila,” he said.
As of August 22, the DOH reported 16,044 new cases, bringing the total confirmed to 1,839,635 with 125,900 active cases. DOH also announced 13,952 new recoveries, totaling 1,681,925.
Meanwhile, 215 more have died, raising the death toll to 31,810. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio / CF -bny
