The sudden increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in Metro Manila in the past week is higher than the surge of cases last year that pushed the national government to implement a stricter nationwide lockdown in August, the OCTA Research Group said Sunday.
The National Capital Region posted an average of 1,025 new daily cases over the past seven days, 42 percent higher from the previous week and 130 percent compared to two weeks ago.
“The priority now is to contain or mitigate the spread of these more contagious and lethal variants apart from preventing the surge in the region from becoming full-blown,” it added as it advised authorities to conduct genome sequencing.
Metro Manila’s surge from July to August last year forced President Rodrigo Duterte to place the whole NCR under modified enhanced community quarantine after health workers of the nation’s capital region demanded for a “timeout”.
The Philippines’ new cases reported on Friday and Saturday each exceeded the 3,000 mark, pushing the national total to 591,138, where 43,323 are active infections.
Latest data from the Department of Health (DOH) show Metro Manila accounting for 241,915 cases or 41 percent of the nation’s total cases.
Meanwhile, the OCTA Research forecasts the country would continuously report 5,000 to 6,000 new cases per day by the end of March, with Metro Manila getting 2,000 daily new cases per day by March 21, and 3,000 new cases per day by March 31, if the current spike continues.
The high-risk areas in Metro Manila are Pasay, Makati, Malabon and Navotas. All cities in Metro Manila reported an upward trend except Valenzuela City.
“Effective and more stringent border controls must be observed to mitigate COVID-19 transmissions from the NCR and between provinces and prevent the spread of the virus,” it said.
The research group also advised health workers to vaccinate themselves against Covid-19.
“We subscribe to the belief that the best vaccine is the vaccine that is available at this time. For now, these are the vaccines developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca and Sinovac,” it said.
The group also encouraged the government to revisit its protocols for international travelers entering the country.
“The fact that SARS-Cov2 variants of foreign origin have entered our country supports this call for stricter guidelines and/or stricter implementation of the existing guidelines. In many countries, 14-day quarantine is mandatory, even after the traveler has tested negative for SARS-Cov2,” it said.
The government on Friday reported that the number of South African or B.1.351 variant cases in the country has climbed to 58, while that of the UK variant already reached 118. Ronald dela Cruz