DOH says COVID-19 positivity rate increase ‘expected’ due to holidays

The recorded rise of the daily COVID-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) to over 5% is “expected” due to the increased mobility of the people during the holiday season, a Health official said Wednesday.

“Natural lang po ‘yan dahil tayo ay may pandemiya pa, nagkasama-sama ang mga tao, nagkaroon ng konting complacency, nakakakita tayo at nakakapag-obserba ng mababang pagsunod sa minimum public health standards (MPHS),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a Balitanghali interview.

(That is natural because we’re still in a pandemic. People also gathered together and there has been little complacency. We have also seen and observed a low observance of the MPHS.)

However, a research fellow of the independent think tank OCTA Research warned on Tuesday that the spike could be more than just "a holiday uptick."

Dr. Guido David said this was the first time the positivity rate in Metro Manila has risen above 5% since October 24.

Meanwhile, the seven-day positivity rate in NCR was now at 2.4%, he added.

Due to this, David said that new cases in the country are “projected to hit 1,200 by December 29, 2021, with at least 400 in the NCR.”

“‘Yan naman po ay inexpect namin pagkatapos ng holiday rush na ito. Lagi po natin tatandaan na tayo ay magsama-sama kung sakaling meron tayong mga makasalamuha na may sakit, talagang magkaka-infection tayo dahil the COVID-19 virus is still here,” Vergeire said.

(We really expect that after the holiday rush. We need to remember that once we gather together with a sick person, we could really get infected as the COVID-19 is still here.)

She thus reminded that the top priority is still preventing severe infection through vaccination, particularly among the elderly and persons with comorbidities.

In an interview with GMA News' Joseph Morong, Guido said that it is “possible that the increase is being driven by Omicron.”

DOH reported on Monday that the fourth case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country was a 38-year-old female from the United States who arrived on December 10.

This traveler’s husband also tested positive for COVID-19 and subjected to genome sequencing.—AOL, GMA News