THE OCTA Research said Thursday that Metro Manila’s weekly COVID-19 positivity rate rose to 19.7 percent as of May 2.
OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the latest positivity rate or the percentage of tests turning out positive for the coronavirus increased by 7 points from 12.7 recorded on April 25.
“This could go as high as 25 percent,” he warned in a tweet.
The World Health Organization recommends a 5-percent threshold for COVID-19 positivity rate.
The hospital occupancy in the capital region, Guido also said, increased to 24.7 percent on May 2 from 22.5 percent on April 25.
Infections surged in the past weeks due to increased mobility, waning immunity and more contagious COVID-19 variants, he earlier told ABS-CBN News.
The Philippines on Wednesday reported 867 additional coronavirus infections, bringing its tally to 4,096,335. The current nationwide positivity rate stood at 17.1 percent.
The country recorded its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 30, 2020 in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged.
Since the pandemic was declared, some 66,444 have died due to COVID-19 in the Philippines.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, acting health chief Maria Rosario Vergeire noted there was an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
“Based on the projections, hanggang sa June, we are seeing na medyo may pagtaas pa hanggang mga 600 na numero ng kaso,” she has said.
“Eventually, siguro pagkatapos ng Hunyo na ‘yan, hopefully pababa na ang mga kaso.”
