Palace, hospital group remind public to celebrate with health protocols
Malacañang on Saturday called on the public to continue following minimum public health standards to ensure safe Christmas and New Year celebrations.
In a Facebook post, the Office of the Press Secretary warned COVID-19 remains a threat to public health.
This developed as the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) on Saturday said hospitals are prepared for the possible increase in COVID-19 cases following the detection of four Omicron subvariant BF.7 cases in the country.
“This Christmas, consider the safety of everyone, including our family and friends, amid our continuing fight against COVID-19,” the OPS said.
“While the restrictions on gatherings have been further eased, adhering to health protocols will still be a big help in ensuring our good health as we celebrate Christmas and New Year.”
The OPS urged continuous wearing of face masks, regular washing of hands, social distancing, ensuring good air flow, and getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
PHAPI President Dr. Jose de Grano, for his part, echoed the call for the public to continue following health protocols to prevent the spread of the viral subvariants.
“We don’t lower the alert levels in the hospitals, we are always prepared for that and then maybe we should take extra precautions now because as you can see this is the cause (of the spike in cases) in China,” he said in a radio interview.
“Maybe that’s why COVID cases also increasing in Australia, Japan, and even in the United States. This caused the increase in the number of cases there. However, we don’t seem to feel the increase in cases because not everyone is being examined,” De Grano added.
The Department of Health said BF.7 is currently being reported under Omicron subvariant BA.5.
De Grano also advised those who have COVID-19 symptoms to avoid participating in gatherings to prevent other people from getting infected.
Daily COVID-19 infections may reach up to 5,000 in January due to the current holiday activities, an infectious diseases expert earlier warned.
Dr. Rontgene Solante said, however, that fresh infections may not exceed that figure amid the population’s immunity.
The Department of Health itself projected daily cases of COVID-19 to reach more than 4,100 by January 15.
According to the agency, BF.7 is said to be a sublineage of the globally dominant BA.5—the one fueling the current COVID surge in China—and has been flagged by researchers “due to its potential to be more transmissible than the wild-type BA.5 and immune evading properties.”
But available evidence for the new sublineage does not seem to suggest worse disease severity compared to the original omicron subvariant.
“If I’m going to give my projection or possible estimate based on previous events and gatherings, I think we will not reach the 25,000 or 30,000 cases last January of this year because of the Omicron variant,” Solante said.
In a statement, the DOH said: “The Department of Health reiterates the need to put more emphasis on other factors such as wearing of best-fitting face masks, isolating when sick, doubling-up protection via vaccines and boosters, and ensuring good airflow because these are the measures that we can address and control, rather than focusing on the presence of a transmissible variant.”
Based on government records, at least 73.7 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Of that number, 21 million got a booster shot in addition to their primary doses.
According to DOH, COVID-19 cases have been on a plateau from Dec. 16 to 22 at 973 or 5 percent lower compared to the week prior.
Healthcare utilization remains to be low risk at 21.73 percent, while severe and critical admissions make up 10.57 percent of total COVID-19 related admissions.