MANILA – The average daily COVID-19 cases in the country has decreased to less than 3,000 as virus transmission continued to drop, the OCTA Research Group said Sunday.

In a report, OCTA said there were 2,959 average new daily cases over the past seven days, a decrease of 15 percent from the previous week’s average of 3,487.

• Philippines posts 2,986 new COVID-19 cases: DOH

The average daily attack rate was 2.69 per 100,00 population, which is considered low.

The reproduction number also decreased to 0.91 as of Aug. 24, from 0.96 on Aug. 17. A reproduction number below 1 indicates infections are trending downward.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate decreased from 16.2 percent to 14.3 percent albeit still far from the World Health Organization’s five-percent benchmark.

"Pero, medyo mabagal ‘yung bagbaba ng cases," noted OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David.

Nonetheless, he said that if the current trend continues, the country may see below 1,000 cases per day by mid-September, and below 500 by the end of that month.

The same downward trend was observed in Metro Manila, with its seven-day average of 1,002 cases and one-week growth rate of -9 percent.

Department of Health officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire advised the public to continue following health protocols and get vaccinated, insisting that the pandemic is not yet over.

“Bagama't bumababa na po o nagpa-plateau ang ating mga kaso, ‘wag pa rin po tayong maging kampante. Kailangan pa rin patuloy pa rin tayong mapagmatyag. Kailangan patuloy pa rin tayong aware and cautious," she said last Friday.

The Philippines on Saturday logged fewer than 3,000 cases for the second consecutive day.

• PH logs fewer than 3,000 cases for 2nd straight day, record-high deaths since May

The DOH reported 2,565 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 3,872,405.

Of the new cases, a third or around 865 came from Metro Manila.

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