The COVID-19 cases in the country could return to the pre-surge levels by the end of October based on current available data, the OCTA Research Group said.
Based on current trends, the country is tracking at less than 5,000 new cases before November, with Metro Manila recording less than a thousand new cases by then.
The group’s data show that the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is at 6,416 nationwide and at 1,156 for the National Capital Region (NCR).
The nationwide and NCR’s reproduction number also dropped to 0.55 and 0.47, respectively.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said they are hoping for the downward trend to continue for alert level de-escalation.
“So that we will be able to de-escalate from our current alert level 3 down to alert level 2, and hopefully [to] alert level 1 by the first week of December,” Duque said.
Meanwhile, experts from the United Kingdom have been closely monitoring a new mutation of the highly transmissible Delta COVID-19 variant called AY4.2.
Delta’s mutation has been detected in around 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, and several parts of Western Europe. It is not yet a variant of concern or under investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO). – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
Watch full report here:
