Omicron in communities a big possibility –DOH

While the government was still looking for definitive evidence to prove that there was local transmission of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, there was a high chance that it was already in communities, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday.

In a Balitanghali interview, Vergeire said they were conducting whole genome sequencing by getting samples from various communities to find evidence of Omicron transmission in the country.

“Malaki po ang posibilidad (there is a big possibility). The assumption right now would be Omicron is in our communities already. Ibig sabihin, nakapasok na po sa ating mga komunidad (it might have entered the communities),” she said.

The country had detected 14 Omicron variant cases, three of which were local cases - two from Bicol and one from the National Capital Region.

Meanwhile, of the 11 imported cases, nine were returning overseas Filipinos and two were foreign nationals.

Vergeire said that the DOH could only confirm that there was local transmission if there were no linkages among people who were found to have the Omicron variant.

“Ibig sabihin, hindi na ho nila alam kung paano kila nakuha ‘yan. Diyan po makakapag-anunsyo na tayo na meron na tayo talagang community transmission,” she added.

(This means that they could no longer determine where they got the Omicron infection. This is only when we could announce that we have community transmission.)

Should this happen, Vergeire stressed that the government and hospitals had “prepared well” to accommodate an influx of COVID-19 patients.

“Our hospitals now are ready. Nakaranas na tayo ng Delta variant noon na kung saan talagang napuno ang ating mga ospital. Ngayon alam na natin ang gagawin. Kailangan lang magtulong-tulong tayong lahat,” she said.

(Our hospitals are now ready. We have experienced the Delta variant before in which our hospitals became full. Now, we know what to do. We just need to help one another.)

The OCTA Research reported Tuesday that hospital bed occupancy for COVID-19 in the NCR had increased to 29% in one week.

Meanwhile, DOH and other health agencies have also set meetings with local government units to give them a heads up of the possibilities and get them ready just in case.

Metro Manila is under an Alert Level 3 until January 15, 2022.

Malacañang also announced that Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal would be placed under an Alert Level 3 from January 5 to 15, 2022, due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.

“Lumampas na sila sa tinatawag nating metrics. Meron tayong two-week growth rate at one-week growth rate na tinitignan. Ito ‘yung bilis ng pagtaas ng kaso sa isang lugar at nakitaan natin na ang mga lugar na ito ay nag-meet na ng threshold,” Vergeire explained.

(They have exceeded our metrics. We monitor a one and two-week growth rate which determines the speed of increasing COVID-19 cases in a particular area. These provinces have met the threshold.)

She added that Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal also showed an increase in average daily attack rate among its population.

Under Alert Level 3, certain establishments would 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.

The Philippines on Tuesday recorded 5,434 additional coronavirus disease infections, raising the total tally to 2,861,119. Of which, 29,809 were active cases.

Vergeire said that this increasing COVID-19 infection could be attributed to several factors, particularly the gatherings over the holiday season and the non-compliance to the minimum public health standards. — DVM, GMA News