OCTA supports de-escalation to Alert Level 2, says worst is over for most regions

By Pearl Gumapos

The OCTA Research Group on Tuesday (Feb. 1) expressed support for the government’s decision to de-escalate the National Capital Region and several areas to Alert Level 2.

“I have to make it clear na we support the decision of the national and local governments to move to Alert Level 2,” OCTA member Dr. Guido David said during the Laging Handa public briefing.

“Iba-iba naman iyong tinitignan natin na metrics. One of the metrics na talagang basehan nila is the healthcare utilization [na nasa] less than 40% na. This is considered low risk, so hindi naman threatened iyong hospitals natin which is the reason kung bakit nagkaroon tayo ng lockdowns dati,” he said.

 

David also said that NCR may return to low-risk classification within one to two weeks.

“Iyong projection namin, baka within two weeks, it could be earlier, within one to two weeks, nasa low risk na. So, hinihintay lang natin basically na bumaba iyong positivity rate na bumaba ng less than 10%,” he said.

David said that there are now fewer regions that are experiencing an acceleration of case increase and that the “worst is over” for most areas in the country.

“I would say na [sa] Luzon, the worst part is over. Sa Visayas din, the worst part is over. Sa Davao City, I think the worst is over. Ganoon din sa Cagayan de Oro. Kahit na the worst part is over, kailangan patuloy pa rin ang pag-iingat kasi andiyan pa rin iyong virus,” he said. -ag

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