PNA file photo MANILA - The Quezon City government is now reporting an average of 14 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases per day, according to the latest data released by the OCTA Research Group. The city government posted Wednesday on its Facebook page that with the decline in the number of average new cases per day, the city's positivity rate is also down to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent last week. QC Mayor Joy Belmonte welcomed this development which she attributed to residents for continuously following health and safety protocols still imposed up to this day. Belmonte said the success in the fight against Covid-19 is also a result of the city government's effort to mitigate the spread of the disease. "We welcome this positive development as this is a testament to our relentless campaign against Covid-19. Hindi lang ito tagumpay ng ating lokal na pamahalaan kundi pati na rin ng mga residente na walang pagod at matiyagang nakiisa sa ating mga pagkilos para mapigil ang pagkalat ng virus (This is not only the success of our local government but also of its residents who tirelessly and patiently joined in the action to fight the spread of the virus," he said. Meanwhile, the city recorded its Reproduction Number (R0) at 0.46. An RO indicates the severity or how contagious an infectious disease is. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an RO lower than 1 means that a confirmed Covid-19 case has a lower chance of infecting or causing a new infection. As of Tuesday, the city government recorded a total of 129 or 0.05 active Covid-19 cases. The city's total number of recoveries from the disease is now at 259,799 or 99.30 percent. On Wednesday, acting presidential spokesperson and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the recommendation to place Metro Manila under the lowest Alert Level 1 status from April 16 to 30. This, as the Covid-19 cases in the country remain low. Aside from the National Capital Region (NCR), over half of the Philippines' total cities and municipalities will also be under Alert Level 1 from April 16 to 30. (PNA) }