(BusinessWorld) METRO Manila and nearby provinces should stay under a general lockdown until end-July, researchers from the country’s premier university said on Tuesday, as health authorities said coronavirus infections in eight metro cities increased in the past two weeks.

“The cases in the National Capital Region are hardly decreasing, OCTA Research Group fellow Fredegusto Guido P. David said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “We think we can retain the general community quarantine but expand business capacities.”

The government also should stay on top of its vaccination rollout, he said.

Coronavirus infections in Manila, Makati, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong, Malabon, Navotas and San Juan rose in the past two weeks, said Alethea de Guzman, a bureau director at the Department of Health (DoH).

“People who get sick have exceeded the daily moving average,” she told a televised news briefing in Filipino. The intensive care unit (ICU) and health care use rates in these cities remained high, Ms. de Guzman said.

Makati and San Juan were high-risk areas, with hospital beds and intensive care units for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients nearly full, she said.

Makati City had a virus reproduction rate of 22%, while 69% of its ICUs were occupied. Its healthcare use rate was 70%.

DoH data showed 126,000 residents of San Juan have had their first vaccine dose, but the virus reproduction rate there was at 10% in the past two weeks.

The average daily attack rate in Makati and San Juan stood at 9.76 and 8.95 for 100,000 people, respectively, Ms. de Guzman said.

She added that one vaccine dose was not enough, adding that even fully vaccinated people should follow minimum health standards.