With the recent increase in coronavirus cases in the northern parts of Metro Manila, a research expert warns the infections may eventually spread to southern areas due to inter-city traveling during the holidays.
Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, a fellow of the OCTA Research team, said southern areas in the capital region like Las Piñas and Parañaque have not yet seen a significant jump in cases compared to other places during the Christmas season.
"But our concern is people are traveling between all [local government units] in Metro Manila," he told CNN Philippines'."That the rise in cases in Quezon City, Malabon, Caloocan and all of those areas will slowly spread to the rest of the areas and surrounding regions including...CALABARZON.", Metro Manila's reproduction rate increased to 1.15 from the period of Dec. 14-20, higher than the 1.06 Ro the following week.
Despite this development, Austriaco said the numbers are still"low." Nevertheless, he cautioned local governments to be wary and strict with travelers going in and out of Metro Manila in order to prevent a surge. Asked about the OCTA team's thoughts on Metro Manila remaining on general community quarantine status, Austriaco said"our numbers are still low though they are growing rapidly, and we hope that this will be reversed in January."