COVID-19 cases in PH may rise to 8,000 daily by end of March – OCTA member

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may record up to 8,000 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) daily by the end of March if the current trend continues, a member of the OCTA Research team said Sunday.

OCTA Research fellow Professor Guido David said that, based on a 1.9 reproduction rate, new daily COVID-19 cases can reach up to 7,000 to 8,000 daily. In Metro Manila, daily cases can reach up to 5,000 to 6,000 by end of March.

Nationwide, the number of new cases daily has already reached 5,000, and by next week, Metro Manila will have a projected 3,000 cases daily by next week, David said in an interview with DZMM’s “Teleradyo.”

If this trend would continue, David said that daily cases nationwide could even reach up to 18,000 to 20,000 and 14,000 in Metro Manila by the middle of April.

David cautioned, however, that the mid-April projections were only his estimates that would still need to be checked.

“We’re not trying to frighten people. All we’re saying is that’s the science. There’s no fear-mongering in science,” David said, speaking partly in Filipino.

“Our projections have already come true. In fact, they’re faster compared to our original projections. So we adjusted the projections,” he added.

The Department of Health reported on Sunday 4,899 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total to 621,498.

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