(ALI VICOY / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview over radio DZBB, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Butch Ong said the reproduction rate of COVID-19 in Metro Manila has decreased to 1.23 from the 1.88 following the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Yung reproduction number natin talaga ngayon, bagkus ay bumababa, mataas pa din ang mga hospital utilization (Our reproduction number right now, although it is decreasing, hospital utilization is still high,” Ong said.
Despite the improvement in the reproduction number, he noted that the average stay of a COVID-19 patient in the hospital is between two to three weeks.
He explained that if a COVID-19 patient was confined to a hospital on April 1, just a few days after the start of the ECQ in the National Capital Region (NCR)-plus, the patient is estimated to be discharged over 20 days later.