New COVID infections in the National Capital Region continue to rise, research released Saturday showed, as President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. prepared to deliver his first State of the Nation Address.
Metro Manila leads the country with the most cases, wherein 16% of tests return positive and where for every 100,000 population, at least six people have the virus in a single day, OCTA Research data showed. These metrics -- positivity rate and ADAR or Average Daily Attack Rate -- determine the kind of restrictions in a given area.
While cases are rising, 26% of intensive care capacity and 34% of the entire system have been utilized for COVID cases, said OCTA Research fellow Guido David. Health authorities consider the sum of cases as well as health care utilization in quarantine classification.
Marcos, who recovered from his second bout with COVID, said in a June 12 vlog that he would liberate Filipinos from pandemic-incudec poverty. In a separate statement, he said face mask mandates could be eased should alert level classifications be downgraded further.
"Ang kapakanan ng ating mga manggagawa, ang ating mga maliliit na negosyo ang iba't iba pang mga sektor na hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa nakabalik sa normal... iyan ang mga patuloy pa natin tinatalakay kasama ng lahat ng pinakamagagaling na eksperto," he said in the vlog.
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Metro Manila led all regions in the country in terms of new cases last Friday, OCTA Research said.
Within Metro Manila, Quezon City had the most cases.
David said there's an "increasing trend" in NCR, where Friday's 1,169 new cases exceeded the 1,000 projection. For Saturday, OCTA projected 3,000 new cases.
Marcos has called for a status quo on pandemic restrictions, which have been carried over until July 31 or one month since he took office.
He has also yet to name a health secretary and designated the DOH's longtime pandemic spokesperson, Usec. Rosario Vergeire, as officer in charge.
Elsewhere around the world, countries are grappling with new sub-variants of the highly-contagious Omicorn which don't appear to cause more severe symptoms.
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