Daily cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) can reach up to 8,000 daily by the end of March if the current trend continues, a member of the OCTA Research team said Sunday.

OCTA Research fellow Professor Guido David said that with a 1.9 reproduction rate, new daily Covid-19 cases nationwide can reach up to 7,000 to 8,000 daily by the end of March, of which Metro Manila will account for to 5,000 to 6,000 daily.

He added that if the trend from March continues, daily cases can reach 18,000 to 20,000 by the end of April, with Metro Manila accounting for 14,000. However, David said the April estimates were his own and needed to be checked.

“We’re not trying to frighten people. All we’re saying is that’s the science. We are using science here and there is  no fear-mongering in science,” David said, speaking partly in Filipino.

He added that Octa Research’s earlier projections have come already true, referring to the increase in Covid-19 cases nationwide in the past few days.

The Department of Health recorded 4,899 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, which is 11 short of the 5,000 logged on Saturday that is the highest so far this year.

The increase in Covid-19 cases may have been caused to people not properly observing health protocols and the entry of more infections variants into the country, particularly the UK and South African variants.