Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines can decline even without going back to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), a stricter quarantine classification, an expert from Octa Research Group of the University of the Philippines said on Wednesday.

In the "Laging Handa" televised press briefing, UP math professor Guido David said it is better to bring down the COVID-19 cases while waiting for the vaccines to arrive.

"We can see that we can bring down the cases even without MECQ because we have done it in September, October, November. But what is really needed is the cooperation of the people. There is a need for social distancing, wearing of face mask and face shield. Limit the mass gathering," he said.

"We need all of those to lower the (number) of cases because it might take time (to get) the vaccine, I mean, sometime next year. So, while waiting for the vaccine, it is better to bring down the cases to prevent us from reverting to MECQ and we can do it if we can change the rising trend now," David explained.

Metro Manila and six other areas are under general community quarantine until the end of December.

He warned that if the people would be complacent, Metro Manila could reach 4,000 cases per day again come January or February.

In the meantime, while the number of cases hasn't hit 4,000 a day, there is no need for the imposition of MECQ, he said.

Butch Ong, also from UP OCTA Research Team, in the same briefing, cited that the upper and lower limit projections of their group on COVID-19 cases were 500,000 and 450,000, respectively.

"Right now, we are seeing an increase although slight. We are now increasing by about a few hundreds per day," he said.

Ong, however, said after Christmas, once the people return to their work areas or to the cities, like Metro Manila, COVID-19 cases could rise.

"So, right now, the number is just starting to go up. We cannot really say that the surge is here definitely. It is still at the early stage, therefore, we can still keep it or make it go lower. We still have the chance not to reach 4,000 (per day)," he said.

As of December 22, COVID-19 cases in the Philippines increased to 462,815 with 429,419 recoveries and 9,021 deaths. Celerina Monte/DMS