The Department of Health (DOH) is expected to announce whether it will retain or shift the COVID-19 alert level in Metro Manila on October 1, Friday.

In a press briefing, DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman said if they would base on the department's monitoring, new cases in the region dropped by 13% over the past two weeks, but the average daily attack rate (33.98 cases per 100,000 population) and ICU utilization (76.22%) remained at high risk.

“Kung ito pong mga numerong ito ng NCR ang ating pagbabasehan, tayo po ay posibleng manatili pa sa Alert Level 4. Subalit ang mga metrics at ating mga numero ay tuloy-tuloy po nating pag-aaralan,” De Guzman said.

[If we would base it on the numbers of NCR, it is possible to remain under Alert Level 4. But we will still continue to study our metrics and figures.)