An independent research group said on Sunday, January 2, that the Philippines will continue to see a rise in COVID-19 infections in the coming days.
Guido David, a fellow of OCTA Research, said the group is projecting that the country will report 3,500 to 4,000 additional cases during the day, and that figures will rise in the next few days.
“I’m anticipating that after tomorrow, maybe Tuesday… the cases will further rise. This is not yet slowing down. In fact, it’s accelerating,” David was quoted by an ABS-CBN news report.
“Right now, if you look at the raw numbers, it looks like we’re going to surpass the numbers that we’ve seen in past surges,” he said.
The single-day positivity rate in the Philippine capital has reached 28 percent, David said, adding that the highest positivity rate in the previous surge was at 30 percent.
A worst case scenario is that the capital region will record more than 10,000 additional infections in a day, he said.
Public health adviser Dr. Tony Leachon, in a separate interview over ABS-CBN, estimated that cases may reach 20,000.
David, however, said there is a possibility that hospitalization “won’t be as bad” compared to past surges, noting the high vaccination rate in Metro Manila and other areas.
It was also possible that most patients will only experience mild symptoms, he added, but also warned that “there will still be some cases that will be severe and critical.”
The government announced that Metro Manila will be placed under the third-highest alert level starting Monday until January 15 in a bid to contain COVID-19 infections.
