MANILA – The OCTA Research Group observed an increase in the Covid-19 positivity rate in Metro Manila and five regions in Luzon.
On Monday, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said in an update on social media that the positivity rate in Metro Manila rose from 7.5 percent on November 19 to 11.1 percent on November 26.
The positivity rate refers to the number of individuals who yielded positive results from those tested for Covid-19.
The World Health Organization suggests that the Covid-19 positivity rate must remain at 5 percent or less.
During the same monitoring period, David said the rate also increased in Cagayan (from 14.4 percent to 18.2 percent), Ilocos Norte (from 4.7 percent to 7.8 percent), Ilocos Sur (from 21.7 percent to 32.9 percent), Kalinga (from 15.9 percent to 23.7 percent), and Pangasinan (from 13.2 percent to 16.5 percent).
In addition, seven provinces reported lower positivity rates in the previous week, but these rates remained “very high” or above 20 percent.
Provinces with very high positivity rates on Nov. 26 are Albay (28.5 percent), Benguet (27 percent), Camarines Sur (27.7 percent), Isabela (44.4 percent), La Union, (22 percent), Nueva Ecija (32.9 percent), and Tarlac (36.5 percent).
On November 26, David stated that the Omicron BQ.1 sub-variant may be responsible for the spike in Covid-19 cases and positivity rates, specifically in Metro Manila.
