THE coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) may again soar to up to 1,000 cases per day after the national and local elections on May 9, Dr. Guido David said on Thursday, May 5, 2022.David said the possible resurgence of Covid-19, particularly in Metro Manila, which is currently under low-risk classification, may be due to variants or sub-lineages that may enter the country.“‘Yung projection natin, kung wala namang pagkalat o pagtaas ng kaso, we’re still seeing cases will remain low in NCR basta nag-iingat tayo. Ngayon, we’re averaging less than or around 100 cases per day sa NCR,” he said during a Laging Handa public briefing.“May different scenarios tayo na tinitignan. Kung magkaron ng pagtaas ng kaso, we may see up to 500 to 1,000 cases per day sa NCR pero sana naman hindi mangyari ‘yun,” he added.On May 1, David said they recorded a seven percent increase in the Covid-19 growth rate in NCR.He said the seven-day average of cases in the region increased from 79 from April 17 to 23 to 85 the following week, April 24 to 30.The reproduction number, or the number of individuals being infected by a single case, also rose from .66 to .79.David said the areas outside NCR that they are monitoring closely include Benguet, Davao, Cebu and Isabela.Last week, health authorities detected the first case of Omicron BA.2.12 in Baguio City from a 52-year-old Finnish lecturer.The Department of Health said that while BA.2.12 is more transmissible, it is not expected to cause severe infection unlike the primary Omicron variant, which resulted in an extreme uptick of cases in the country last January.David reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated against Covid-19 to strengthen the country’s wall of protection against resurgence.As of May 2, a total of 62,958,216 individuals in the country have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while 72,725,102 have received booster doses.Over 13,273,120 million people have also received booster doses.For the pediatric vaccination, a total of 2,114,862 children aged five to 11 have been fully vaccinated, while 9,236,436 adolescents aged 12 to 17 have been inoculated. (SunStar Philippines)