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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Virus cases surge to 3,617

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But DOH cautious in hiking restrictions despite experts’ warnings

The Philippines greeted the first day of 2022 with 3,617 new COVID-19 cases, as health experts warned that another surge could be likely due to increased mobility and relaxed health protocols.

FEARLESS CROWD. People visit a park in Quezon City on New Year’s Day despite the looming threat of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which has seen new COVID-19 cases double since Dec. 27. AFP

Even then, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday it is being cautious in upgrading COVID-19 quarantine restrictions nationwide despite the threat of the more contagious coronavirus Omicron variant.

The Philippines will tighten coronavirus restrictions in Metro Manila over fears of an “exponential growth” in cases due to the Omicron variant, the government said late Friday.

Meanwhile, mayors in the National Capital Region are set to meet today to discuss plans and possible measures to be enforced in connection with the new Alert Level 3 imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force following the new spike of COVID-19 cases.

The virus mutation causing the recent swelling of domestic COVID-19 infections has qualities of “very highly transmissible variant,” some doctors said.

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“The rapidity in the increases in cases is very characteristic of a very highly transmissible variant of concern, and if you look at the trend in terms of increases from other countries our situation is just starting,” Dr. Rontgene Solante said in a Teleradyo interview Saturday.

Solante, who heads the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit of the San Lazaro Hospital, did not say explicitly it was omicron that caused the surge.

Health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon echoed his sentiment, saying: “I have analyzed it, and the increase is driven by the National
Capital Region. Among the new cases, almost 2,000 are in the NCR, out of the 2,961 (recorded on Friday).”

VIRUS…“But with the vaccination rate here, which is relatively higher, and the number of people confined here in August and September, there should be a natural immunity at work already,” he added.

Leachon said that in Twitter exchanges with other doctors, he said he doesn’t believe the current surge is driven by the Delta variant of the virus because the government had already successfully flattened the curve of the positivity rate, from under 5 percent to 0.9 percent.

“That’s why people were confident to go out this holiday season. While we knew there would be an uptick, the projection wasn’t that high. So the dagger here is the omicron (variant),” he explained.

The Philippine General Hospital has been admitting an average of 6 to 8 patients with COVID-19 of varying severity since Christmas Day, its spokesperson said on Saturday.

This was despite the Philippines having fully vaccinated more than 49 million Filipinos by the end of 2021, falling short of its target of giving two doses of the COVID-19 jab to 54 million people by the end of that year.

At a press briefing on Saturday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government is “guided by metrics” in imposing quarantine alert levels in various areas of the country.

“So we will not recommend [Alert Level 3] to other regions until the figures will show that, like NCR (National Capital Region), kung mabilis ang pagtaas ng mga kaso,” Duque said.

Metro Manila has been placed under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15.

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments will be allowed to operate at 30% indoor venue capacity only for fully vaccinated individuals and 50% outdoor venue capacity, provided that all employees are fully vaccinated.

Face-to-face classes in basic and higher education, contact sports, funfairs/perya, and casinos are among the activities and establishments that would be prohibited under Alert Level 3.

Work at government offices is limited to 60% of their onsite capacity.

Metro Manila was supposed to remain under the more relaxed Alert Level 2 from January 1 to 15, 2022, like most of the country.

Duque said that metrics was the “reason primarily why we are estimating NCR of Alert Level 3.”

The country has also detected three local cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, two from NCR and one from the Bicol Region. To date, the number of Omicron variant cases in the country has reached 14.

With the detection of local cases, the DOH warned of “exponential growth” in the number of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks.

Independent research group OCTA on Saturday said COVID-19 cases in the country could total more or less 4,000 on January 1, as it noted a rise in the reproduction number of the coronavirus in NCR — 3.19 as of December 28.

Daily infections surged to a two-month high on Friday as the Christmas season and looser restrictions allowed family reunions and church services in the Catholic-majority nation.

“The epidemiological investigation on the three local cases indicates there is a high possibility of local transmission of Omicron,” Acting Presidential Spokesman Karlo Nograles said. “In the coming days, we may see a spike in active cases.”

“We also have to keep our healthcare utilization at a manageable level. We can do this by working together to prevent the transmission
of COVID-19,” Duque said.

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