Metro Manila records Covid spike,with 900 new cases daily — Octa
METRO Manila has recorded a spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the past week, averaging 900 infections daily, according to an independent research firm.
In its March 5 report, Octa said the increase was 50 percent higher than what was reported from February 19 to 25, and 119 percent higher from two weeks ago.
The research group said almost all local government units reported a spike in Covid infections.
Positivity rate in the region has also increased to 7 percent over the past seven days, and continues to rise by one percentage point a week, while the reproduction number, or R-naught, is at 1.47.
Octa said the surge may have been caused by “new and more contagious and lethal variants that could overwhelm the region if left unabated in the next few weeks”, but added that this should be confirmed by genome sequencing.
Quezon City, Pasay City, Manila, and Makati City posted increases in their average daily cases, with Pasay having the highest at 150 new infections per day since the surge in August 2020.
Only Marikina and Las Pinas experienced “marginal” increases.
Five villages in Pasay were also considered “Covid hotspots” by the research group: Barangay 76, 59, 183, 70 and 36. Barangay 76 has the highest number of new cases at 128.
Octa said that while the highly-infectious B1351 or the so-called South African variant of the virus has been identified in Pasay City, it is not known how widespread it has become.
Elsewhere in the country, Cebu City’s Covid cases has dropped for the first time, indicating a reversal of the trend in the area, as well as in Davao City, while slight increases were reported in Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.
Baguio City is also experiencing an uptick in new cases and with a positivity rate of 22 percent, the group warned that this could result in a spike in the number of infections in the Cordillera region.
The group said that both the national and local governments could control the surge that is still in its early stages by imposing localized lockdowns and stricter border controls.