By Katrina Gracia Consebido
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Friday, Jan. 6, that the government and the Department of Health (DOH) continue to monitor COVID-19 and its new variants amid the reported detection of Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant in other countries.
In an interview with the media after an inspection at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Marcos said his directive to DOH is to keep monitoring the situation, particularly health facilities.
“Ganun pa rin. We are still in the same status. At mukha naman, kagaya ng mga bagong variant na pumapasok dito, na dumadating dito, binabanatayan natin nang husto,” Marcos said.
“Like before, I’ve always look at the hospitals and the occupancy rate,” he added.
Marcos mentioned that hospital occupancy rose due to patient consultations on other cases not related to COVID-19.
“What has happened, nag-increase ang occupancy rate ng mga ospital dahil ‘yung mga hindi nagpa-ospital ng dalawang taon ngayon eh pumpunta sa ospital,” he said.
“It’s not for COVID, it’s for other things. We’re watching it very closely. But so far, mukha namang maayos, mukha namang nama-manage natin,” he added. -ag
