WITH the National Capital Region (NCR) now on a downward trajectory, the independent Octa Research said Friday, January 21, 2022, there could be around 1,000 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases per day come Valentine's Day in February.
In a television interview, Octa fellow Dr. Guido David said current projection sees Covid-19 cases continuously dropping in the coming weeks.
“There were 9,455 cases yesterday (January 20). Last week, it was at 18,000. So, that’s already a reduction of about half or 50 percent. And if trends continue, we’re projecting about 2,000 cases to 3,000 cases by the end of this month,” David said.
"Hopefully, by Valentine's Day, it would be down to about 1,000 cases per day in NCR. And by the end of February, it would be down to about less than 500 cases," he added.
He said the NCR pattern is similar to the one seen in South Africa, also due to the Omicron variant.
"If we follow the South Africa model, it actually peaked after about two weeks from the start of the surge, followed by a fairly rapid decrease," he said.
He stressed, however, that the numbers are not guaranteed as they are merely projections.
"These are just projections. We hope this would come into fruition," David said.
He said the continuation of the declining numbers in Metro Manila is largely dependent on the actions of the people.
"We have to continue doing what we are doing over the past week or two weeks, that is following minimum public health standards and personal restriction of mobility," David said. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)