Baguio sees dramatic COVID surge, cases expected to peak

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong described the current surge in COVID-19 cases as dramatic but noted that most infections are mild or asymptomatic.

The city is averaging 448 new cases daily over the past week, with a reproduction number of 3.5%.

Magalong expects cases to peak in the next two weeks, highlighting the current and upcoming weeks as critical.

The city's average daily attack rate is at 80.1%, and the weekly growth rate is 6.9%.

This projected increase in cases is partly attributed to Baguio's extensive daily testing, which includes an average of 1,300 RT-PCR tests and 570 antigen tests.

The mayor emphasized the importance of testing in identifying and isolating individuals infected with the virus.