THE National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila logged 1,600 new Covid-19 cases on September 25, surpassing the peak of 1,502 cases recorded on August 7, OCTA Research reported on Monday.

The Covid positivity rate in the region has also gone up, from 15.7 percent on September 15, to 18.5 percent on September 24, exceeding August 5 rate of 17.5 percent, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said.

“The one-week growth rate in NCR increased to 25 percent as of September 25, almost double the one-week growth rate of 13 percent on September 18,” David said.

The Covid-19 reproduction number, or the number of persons infected by a single individual, also rose to 1.30 on September 22 — from 1.21 on September 15.

David did not find the rising indicators as alarming, since healthcare utilization remained low at a low 36 percent.

“Cases are expected to increase further, but we expect hospital bed occupancy to remain at low levels,” he said.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante urged the public to get their Covid-19 booster dose to increase their protection against severe infection.

Solante said that most of the time, those who die and develop severe Covid are unvaccinated individuals.

“Those who have not yet received their primary doses are the most vulnerable, especially with the mild Covid that could develop into severe Covid, particularly among the vulnerable population,” he said during a briefing on Monday.

Solante also said that six new Omicron subvariants are being monitored by different countries for signs of high mutation and the capability to evade antibodies from Covid-19 vaccines.

He said the chances of Covid-19 transmission could increase with the new subvariants.

He said he expects cases to further increase within the next two weeks because the Omicron subvariant BA .5 is still active in the country.