NCR COVID-19 reproduction number holds steady –experts
GMA News – Published January 17, 2021 6:08PM
Metro Manila’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reproduction number held steady at 1.12 during the past week, experts from the OCTA Research group said Sunday.
“[This] means that the trend in new COVID-19 cases in NCR, though still on an upward trend, has remained the same over the past week,” the researchers said in a report.
A reproduction number of one or higher indicates the continued spread of COVID-19.
The experts also said the National Capital Region registered an average of 430 new infections daily from January 10 to 16, which was 45 percent higher than the average recorded over the holiday season last year.
However, the positivity rate remained at four percent, below the World Health Organization’s five percent benchmark.
Marikina City also posted the highest positivity rate in the region over the past week at 12 percent.
The Health Department said that any holiday-related infections surge would become evident by January 15 due to the incubation period of the virus.
Last week, the Philippines reported more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases two days in a row for the first time since November.
Benguet cases, hospital occupancy
Meanwhile, the OCTA Research team said the number of new cases recorded daily in Benguet was on an upward trend with a reproduction number of 2.06 and a daily attack rate of 9.8 per 100,000 people.
“The average number over the past week was 83 new COVID-19 cases per day, more than double the previous week’s average of 35,” they said.
The majority of the new cases came from Baguio City, while the rest were from La Trinidad, Mankayan, and Itogon, among other areas.
“This suggests that infections are spread out and not concentrated in just a small area,” the experts said.
They also sounded the alarm on the high hospital occupancy rate in Benguet, with bed occupancy at 88 percent and intensive care unit occupancy at 86 percent as of January 13.
The critical level of occupancy is 70 percent.
Benguet also logged a daily positivity rate of 21 percent as of January 15 and averaged 16 percent over the past week.
Just last December 18, Benguet’s positivity rate was nine percent.
“A high positivity rate suggests a high rate of infection within the region, or the testing capacity needs to be increased… A positivity rate above 10 percent is considered high,” the experts warned.
The Philippines tallied 500,577 COVID-19 cases, including 465,991 recoveries and 9,895 deaths, as of Sunday afternoon. — DVM, GMA News
SOURCE: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/772109/ncr-covid-19-reproduction-number-holds-steady-experts/story/?fbclid=IwAR17n8duM7cowEIJzukHnXwNN7d9RolzSc5WfSA8RU3wawjdrbYq9-WRh0Q
