The weekly positivity rate in the National Capital Region rose to 17.5 percent as of September 21 from 14.3 percent in September 14, OCTA Research said Thursday.

This matched the previous peak on August 5, OCTA added.

The reproduction number in the NCR rose to 1.26 percent on September 19 from 1.19 percent on September 12, said OCTA.

''It is now likely that this current resurgence will see higher positivity rates over the next weeks,'' said OCTA Research Fellow Guido David.

David said it likely that NCR may see 2,000 daily '' by the start of October''.

''The good news is that healthcare utilization for COVID in NCR remained low at 38 percent,'' said David. DMS