A private research group said Sunday that the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections in Metro Manila may have already peaked with the weekly positivity rate dropping to 16.4 percent Friday from 17.5 percent last 6 August.
“This is the first time in the current wave [that] the weekly positivity rate decreased, and it gives us optimism that cases in the NCR (National Capital Region) may have already peaked,” Dr. Guido David said in a radio interview.
The positivity rate reflects the percentage of people found positive for Covid-19 from the total number of individuals tested.
The decline was the first in the current Covid-19 wave, according to David, who, however, warned that Covid-19 cases are still increasing in Metro Manila with its present growth rate of 5 percent.
“The cases are still increasing a bit as the growth rate in Metro Manila is still around 5 percent. This is low compared to the growth rate before which was as high as 50 percent,” he clarified.
David’s forecast came as the Quezon City government reported that its positivity rate climbed to 17.9 percent on 8 August from 15.2 percent the week before. New Covid cases in the city also increased from 245 to 279 for the same period cited.
The city’s reproduction number or the number of people infected by a single case dropped to 1.23.
“The city remains at moderate risk level due to increased risk exposure to Covid-19,” the Quezon City health department said in an advisory.
On Saturday, the Philippines’ active caseload stood at 40,324 after 4,679 new cases were added.