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INDEPENDENT Covid-19 tracker OCTA Research has classified the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) as at moderate risk for Covid infection, even as the region maintained its Alert Level 1 status until the end of the month.

In an interview on CNN Philippines on Tuesday, OCTA Research senior fellow Dr. Guido David said the group raised Metro Manila’s risk level to moderate based on the rising average daily attack rate of 0.99, the reproduction rate of 1.56 and the test positivity rate of 3.3 percent.

But in a statement, the Department of Health (DoH) reiterated that the NCR remained under low risk, noting that while the region showed a positive two-week growth rate, its average daily attack rate is still below the required six cases per 100,000 population.

David said OCTA’s metrics are different from that being used by the DoH. He said the group gets its metrics from the Covid Act Now nonprofit group led by the Harvard Global Health Institute, Stanford Clinical Excellence and Research Center and Georgetown University Medical Center.