Duque: Compliance with protocols, vaccination will help keep COVID-19 cases low after holidays

Compliance with minimum public health standards (MPHS) and high vaccination rates may help keep the country’s COVID-19 cases low even after the holidays, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Duque said these may help prevent cases from increasing to the same level as during the Delta surge when the Philippines recorded a seven-day moving average of 21,000 to 22,000 cases.

“Basta 'wag lang tayo magluluwag ng pansariling proteksyon, ‘yung MPHS kung tawagin ay baka naman maliit lang ‘yan. Baka naman hindi din ‘yan tutulad, hindi na rin yan aabot tulad ng Delta,” he said.

(As long as we won’t be complacent, the MPHS, cases may remain low. It may not be similar to what happened during Delta.)

“[H]opefully, ‘yung surge kung meron man ay hindi sana tutulad sa pinakamataas natin,” Duque later added.

(Hopefully, the surge, if there will be one, will not be similar to our highest.)

Independent monitoring group OCTA Research has said that a coronavirus surge triggered by the new Omicron variant may occur in January 2022.

The Omicron variant, classified as a variant of concern, is likely to have a higher degree of transmissibility but is less severe.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has imposed travel restrictions over  Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, and Switzerland over the variant.—AOL, GMA News