NCR may see up to 1,000 COVID-19 cases per day after Eleksyon 2022 –OCTA

COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) may reach up to 1,000 a day should there be an increase in infections after the May 9 elections, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said Thursday.

During a Laging Handa briefing, David said the whole Philippines, including the NCR, is still under “low risk” category for COVID-19, but stressed that it could still change anytime considering the threats of other variants or sub-lineages that may enter the country.

“‘Yung projection natin, kung wala namang pagkalat o pagtaas ng kaso, we’re still seeing cases will remain low in NCR basta nag-iingat tayo. Ngayon, we’re averaging less than or around 100 cases per day sa NCR,” he said.

“May different scenarios tayo na tinitignan. Kung magkaron ng pagtaas ng kaso, we may see up to 500 to 1,000 cases per day sa NCR pero sana naman hindi mangyari ‘yun,” he added.

(Our projection is that cases may remain low in NCR as long as we are careful. Now, we’re averaging less than or around 100 cases per day in NCR. But we are looking at different scenarios. If there is an increase in cases, we may see up to 500 to 1,000 cases per day in NCR. Hopefully that will not happen.)

David on Sunday said the NCR recorded an uptick in COVID-19 infections from April 24 to 30, as its growth rate increased by 7% compared to the April 17–23 data.

David mentioned that OCTA is currently monitoring the COVID-19 situations in several areas in the country such as Benguet, Davao Region, Cebu, and Isabela.

Philippine health authorities recently detected the first case of Omicron BA.2.12 in the country in Baguio City in a 52-year-old Finnish female who arrived from Finland last April 2.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier stressed that the BA.2.12 Omicron sublineage is more transmissible but is not be as severe as the original Omicron variant that had caused a surge in COVID-19 infections in the country around January this year.

David thus underscored the importance of getting the primary vaccine series and booster shots, and continued compliance with the health protocols to prevent a possible COVID-19 surge.

“Our belief is, given the data that we have, so far, the country is at low risk. But again we need to insulate it. We need to work together to put up that wall of population protection,” OCTA Research fellow Dr. Ranjit Rye said. —KBK, GMA News