OCTA Research fellow Guido David on Thursday said the COVID-19 reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) is now at 0.99, but '' will not guarantee a decrease in the number of cases.''

In a TV interview, David said though the reproduction number is decreasing, the COVID-19 trend is ''still unstable''.

"Our reproduction number has decreased. It's 0.99 in NCR, in fact it's already less than one. But right now, the trend is still unstable... This will not guarantee a decrease in the number of cases," he said.

David said the daily average of COVID-19 cases in NCR is 4,300. Although it is lower than 5,100 cases in the last two weeks, he said it will still be difficult for hospitals to see a decrease in health care capacity.

"There is a big improvement... Even the positivity rate is lower to 22 percent... For the next few weeks, we will still have high (COVID-19) casese... Even if the cases lower to 3,000 (per day), hospitals cannot still feel it," he said.

"The hospitals will not have a lower trend because there are still long lines. Patients have (a) hard time being admitted and there are still a lot of expected cases," he added.

Because of these factors, David said they understand the request of the health care workers for an extension of modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). Ella Dionisio/DMS