The reproduction number in the National Capital Region rose to 0.70 as of December 22, up from 0.42 in December 15, OCTA Research said Sunday.

In his Twitter account, OCTA Research Fellow Guido David said ''the increase in the reproduction number during the holidays would indicate a pattern not observed in December 2020.''

Last year, David said the reproduction number rose before the holidays, followed by a dip during the holidays probably due to many people going to the provinces for the holiday.

David added that the reproduction number in the NCR based on testing has also risen to 0.79.

''This is a more accurate measure of the reproduction number because it is not affected by backlog,'' he said.

The increase in the reproduction number came after OCTA Research pointed out that positivity rate from December 16 to 22 went up to 0.77 from 0.62 from December 12-16

The reproduction number and the positivity rate show the speed of infection from the coronavirus disease.

On Saturday, daily COVID-19 cases rose to 433 from 310 on Friday. DMS