Thirteen regions across the country and 15 areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) have cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.
“Our latest whole genome sequencing showed that the Omicron variant is now the predominant variant in the National Capital Region,” Dr. Alethea De Guzman of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau said.
Amid the threat of emerging variants, experts reiterated that approved COVID-19 vaccines continue to offer protection against severe COVID-19 infection.
“Ang good news in the context of Omicron, very high ang levels ng antibodies ‘pag nagpa-booster to suppress Omicron. So the conclusions are the same – AstraZeneca or Pfizer are really good options to provide enhanced body immunity,” infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said.
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The OCTA Research said the number of new cases in the City of Manila has been decreasing, noting that its 4.30 reproduction number in the previous week declined to 1.73 with a weekly growth rate of -7.
Dr. Guido David of OCTA said there is a possibility for the new cases in Metro Manila to go down if the decrease in the number of cases continues in Manila.
However, the group has observed a case increase in the country following the high number of cases recorded in Baguio City, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Angeles City.
DOH data showed that NCR, Regions 1, 3, 4A, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have been recording the highest number of cases per day.
“‘Pag tiningnan po natin ngayon ang trends ng ibang rehiyon dito po sa pagtaas ng kaso, nakikita po natin ‘yung steep increase in the number of cases. Hindi po natin puwedeng masabi definitely or with certainty that this is really Omicron, but based on our experience in NCR, we are seeing the same trends in the other regions,” DOH USec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The DOH assured that there is no shortage of test kits in the country, but added that cases might continue to increase with the rise in testing output. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
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