Manila Bulletin
Higher number of COVID-19 cases possible if Omicron variant enters PH---DOH exec
The OCTA research group warned of a potential serious surge in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines if the Omicron variant enters the country.
Health Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea de Guzman of the Department of Health (DOH) also stated that the Philippines may experience higher peaks in COVID-19 cases due to Omicron compared to previous variants.
Dr. Guido David of OCTA research noted that South Africa's reproduction number increased significantly with Omicron, reaching up to 4.18, which is higher than during their Delta surge.
De Guzman added that Omicron may be 10 times more transmissible than the original coronavirus and 4.2 times more transmissible than the Delta variant.
Despite the Philippines having a higher vaccine coverage at 36% compared to South Africa's 25%, Dr. David believes Omicron could still trigger a substantial increase in infections.
He also mentioned that the Philippines' reproduction number was 0.14 as of December 13, 2021, with a seven-day average of 236 new cases.
The DOH official stated that while higher peaks are possible, there are measures that can be taken to prevent reaching them.
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The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed 289 new COVID-19 cases nationwide on December 16, bringing the total active cases to 10,095.
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The Department of Health (DOH) announced that no Omicron COVID-19 variant cases were detected in the latest whole genome sequencing of 48 samples.
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The Philippines confirmed its first two imported cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, one from Japan and another from Nigeria.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the Omicron variant is likely to replace the Delta variant as the dominant COVID-19 strain in the Philippines.
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The Philippines confirmed its third case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, a 36-year-old sea-based Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who arrived from Qatar on November 28 via Qatar Airways Flight QR 924.
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