Although there is still a need for more definitive evidence before declaring local transmission, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday said there now the assumption that the more transmissible Omicron variant is already in the community amid a prevailing spike in Covid-19 cases.
However, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that with the experience in fighting Delta variant before, the country is “more ready” to deal with the Omicron variant.
“Tayo ay mas handa na ngayon dahil ating naranasan na ’yung ganun karaming mga nagpunta sa ospital at prepared na tayong lahat [We are more ready now because of our experience before wherein more patients were admitted to the hospitals],” Vergeire said adding that all hospitals were already told to prepare two weeks ago.
Vergeire also said that they have identified three close contacts of the 10 new Omicron Covid-19 variant cases in the country.
Vergeire said that patient 1’s one close contact tested negative; Patient 2’s seven co-passengers all tested negative; Patient 3’s 30 co-passengers all tested negative.
“Among patient 4’s 24 co-passengers, three tested positive, 15 tested negative, while the other six are still being verified,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire said that details on the contact tracing of the other infected patients are still being verified.
Of the 11 imported cases, nine are returning overseas Filipinos and two are foreign nationals.
On the other hand, Vergeire said that all local cases have been located and traced have completed the minimum 10-day isolation and have been tagged as recovered prior to release of genome results.
Ready to face Omicron
The country is ready for a possible Omicron variant wave which DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said on Monday seems to be upon the Philippines as the Covid-19 infections continue to increase.
“Well, it looks like the Omicron wave is upon us,” Vega, also the country treatment czar, said in an interview with ANC television.
Vega said the Philippines has been experiencing a “steady increase” in terms of the Omicron just like what happened across South Africa and Europe.
“Our numbers have doubled and this is the start and we are very sure that this will peak. When it will crest down and decelerate, we don’t know. But what is very important is that we are prepared for this omicron virus,” he said.
For the last two days, DOH reported more than 4,000 new daily cases, including 4,600 logged on Sunday, the highest infections since the country’s lowest 168 new cases recorded on December 21, 2021.
While the Omicron variant causes mild symptoms, Vega emphasized its high transmissibility factor may bring a large volume of infected patients.
“We are preparing our health-systems capacity, our testing, our isolation so that we are all prepared for another ride in the waves of this Omicron virus,” he said.
He added the government is also preparing its temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs).
“We only have about 115 TTMF beds all over the country. That means if you have an exponential growth in this Omicron, we might have problems in terms of isolation or quarantining these Covid-positive patients,” he said.
Earlier, DOH said a surge or peak of Omicron infections can be delayed through public health interventions—proper wearing of face masks, social distancing, frequent and proper hand washing, good indoor ventilation, and vaccination.With PNA