Disaster scientist Mahar Lagmay on November 24 released two dot maps that showed the glaring differences of active COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila between two months.
This came amid the gradual decline of new COVID-19 infections in the past few weeks, thus leading the government to loosen restrictions in the region to Alert Level 2.
This alert level status will remain until November 30.
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Lagmay juxtaposed an interactive dot map with data on active COVID-19 cases last September 6, 2021 with a map on November 15.
“Big difference! Nov 15, 2021 vs Sept 6, 2021 random dot map of active cases in Metro Manila,” he said in the tweet.
“Thank you to Jake Mendoza, Feye Andal, UP Resilience Institute, UP RI Youth Mappers, and the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team,” he added.
Big difference! Nov 15, 2021 vs Sept 6, 2021 random dot map of active cases in Metro Manila.
Thank you to Jake Mendoza, Feye Andal, UP Resilience Institute, UP RI Youth Mappers, & the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team
Visit https://t.co/addZhPXoGu for the ineractive maps pic.twitter.com/Tgmr6VInUs
— Mahar Lagmay (@nababaha) November 24, 2021
The red dot in the maps represents one active COVID-19 case.
The map on the left which depicted the active cases on November 15 showed scattered red dots all over the National Capital Region.
In the case bulletin for that day, the Department of Health recorded 1,547 additional infections, which brought the total number to 2,818,511.
The number of active cases were only 1.0% or 27,025.
The map on the right which depicted the active cases last September 6 showed big chunks of red covering the NCR.
In the case bulletin for that day, the DOH recorded an alarming 22,415 additional infections, which brought the total number to 2,103,331.
The number of cases were also high at 7.6% or 159,633.
August and September were the months when the country had logged more than 20,000 new cases on the daily COVID-19 tally, thus raising public alarm.
READ: New normal? Concerns as daily COVID-19 cases reach over 20,000 for 3 straight days
It was also the same period when DOH confirmed the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant in the country.
READ: Philippines reports record virus cases as Delta variant spreads
Some Filipinos who saw Lagmay’s tweet hoped that the downward trend would continue in the long run.
“Grabe yung mga pulang marka last Sept. Sana tuluy tuloy na ang pagbaba ng mga kaso,” one Twitter user said.
One user recalled how deeply concerning it was back in August and September.
“This is so accurate. It felt like almost everyone I knew had Covid aug/sept. I had covid back in sept and I don’t even go out. What a scary, scary time,” the Twitter user wrote.
In the latest case bulletin on November 24, the country recorded 890 additional cases with 17,864 active cases.
The total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases is 2,828,660.
Data analyst Edson Guido shared a graph where the positivity rate is below 5% for the 12th straight day.
Guido noted the World Health Organization’s recommendation to declare the pandemic is “under control” is 5% or lower for at least two weeks.
