Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he will recommend Metro Manila to remain under Alert Level Three during Thursday's meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force.

''We are recommending that Metro Manila remain under Alert Level Three,'' said Duque in an interview with CNN Philippines. Alert Level Three will lapse in the metropolis on Jan. 14.

Duque said healthcare utilization rate remains at a ''moderate'' 55 to 56 percent even as cases and the average daily attack rate remains high.

He said unless healthcare utilization rate breaches 70 percent Metro Manila will be under Alert Level III.

Although daily COVID-19 cases slowed down from setting record high on Jan. 10, Duque said it is difficult to say if ''plateauing'' has begun.

'' This afternoon and the remaining days of the week will give us a better inkling if a plateauing is starting to develop,'' said Duque.

OCTA Research said the reproduction number in Metro Manila has done down to 4.69 from 6.16 on January 2. DMS