Manila, May 2 : The Covid-19 positivity rate in Manila increased to 17.2 per cent as of April 29 from 10.2 per cent on April 22, according to data released by a Philippine analyst on Tuesday. Guido David, professor at the University of the Philippines and a fellow of OCTA Research, said the capital's positivity rate, or the percentage of people found positive for Covid-19 among the total number of people tested, breached the 5 per cent benchmark of the World Health Organization, reports Xinhua news agency. The seven-day positivity rates also increased to double digits in many provinces, David added. The positivity rate for the whole country hovered around 15.2 per cent as of April 30, with the highest rate recorded in the province of Camarines Sur at 39.7 per cent, followed by Rizal at 28.5 per cent, Cavite at 28.1 per cent and Laguna at 21.2 per cent. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said the public need not panic amid the rising positivity rate, adding that the hospitalization rate remained low throughout the country. DOH Officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the positivity rate is not the only basis for assessing the country's Covid-19 situation, noting that RT-PCR testing has significantly declined. President Ferdinand Marcos floated the possibility of requiring face masks amid the rising infections. The Philippines, with around 110 million population, has logged nearly 4.1 million confirmed Covid-19 cases since the pandemic first erupted in early 2020, with 66,444 deaths. /IANS