A fellow of the OCTA Research group recently raised concerns that the positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) could potentially reach 20% in the upcoming weeks due to the lower COVID-19 testing compared to previous years.
As of April 26, Guido David, an OCTA fellow, reported that the seven-day positivity rate in the NCR is currently at 13.4%, a significant increase from the 8.4% recorded on April 19.
NCR 7-day positivity rate increased to 13.4% as of April 26 2023. This is up from 8.4% as of April 19. This is expected to increase further, perhaps up to 20%. #COVID #covid19 #ArcturusIsHere @dzbb @DZAR1026 @dzrhnews @dzrhnews @ali_sotto @DrMichaelTee @DrTonyLeachon @dwiz882 pic.twitter.com/22qBe9qt5h
— Dr. Guido David (@iamguidodavid) April 27, 2023
According to the World Health Organization, a positivity rate of five percent or lower is recommended to effectively manage the pandemic.
In a previous statement, David noted that the NCR has been averaging only 3,120 RT-PCR tests per day, a significant decrease from the roughly 11,000 tests conducted in April 2022.
This low number of tests conducted, along with the increasing number of cases, is expected to contribute to the spike in the region’s positivity rate.
Despite the rise in the positivity rate, the number of confirmed cases remains low, with only 274 new cases reported on Thursday, up from 197 the previous day.
However, OCTA previously noted that the actual number of cases may be higher since official data only include results from RT-PCR tests and not those from antigen tests.
