NCR reproduction rate up 0.70
DAYS before Christmas Day, the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) reproduction rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) has increased to 0.70.
According to the independent Octa Research, the NCR reproduction rate has gone back closer to 1, which is the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The reproduction number in the NCR increased to 0.70, as of December 22, 2021. Note that this was 0.42 on December 15,” said Octa fellow Guido David in a social media post.
He said a similar pattern was seen during the holiday season in 2020.
“If we compare this with last year, the reproduction number also spiked before the holidays, followed by a dip during the holidays, and then an uptick by the first week of January 2021,” said David.
He called on the public to continue to be vigilant against Covid-19 and practice minimum public health standards to prevent the uptick from dragging on.
“A continued increase in the reproduction number during the holidays would indicate a pattern not observed in December 2020,” David said.
The reproduction number is defined as the number of people a positive individual can infect at a particular instance.
According to the WHO, if the average reproduction number is greater than 1, the infection will spread exponentially. On the other hand, if the reproduction rate is less than 1, the infection will spread slowly. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)
