Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Wednesday said he is confident that the country’s existing strategy against the COVID-19 is sufficient to fight a possible surge despite the entry of the Omicron variant, as confirmed by the Department of Health (DOH).

Go, chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said he is “deeply concerned but, at the same time, confident” in the country’s existing Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate strategy.

“As reports indicated, the first two cases of this variant were detected and isolated on the same dates and contact tracing is presently being conducted to who else were exposed to them,” Go said.

Go is referring to the DOH’s announcement it has detected its first two cases of the Omicron variant on two international travelers who are now currently isolated in a facility under the Bureau of Quarantine.

The first case is from a returning overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who arrived from Japan on Dec. 1 via Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight, while the second case is a Nigerian national who arrived in the country on Nov. 30. Both patients are currently asymptomatic.

At this point, Go said he sees no reason to panic but at the same time, appealed to the public to remember that the fight against COVID-19 is still ongoing.

“We need to continue to be alert and to follow the set health protocols, including the wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing, washing of hands and as much as possible staying at home if there’s no need to go out,” Go said.

“We don’t want to put our sacrifices in the past two years to go to waste,” he added.

Go also urged health experts to study carefully proposals if there is a need to raise the alert status.

“Let’s balance everything, especially now that we are in celebrating the Christmas season and most families gather together at this time of the year,” he pointed out.

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson also urged the government to closely monitor cases and to effectively trace the individuals who had contact with the two patients who contracted the Omicron variant.

“Contact tracing is key. The two have been here for quite a while. I hope all their co-passengers - and those whom they got in contact with before the detection of the Omicron variant - are all accounted for and closely monitored,"Lacson said in his Twitter post.

Sen. Joel Villanueva also welcomed the fact that the DOH is able to trace the two Omicron cases. However, he said he won’t recommend raising the alert level just yet.

“I would just remind everyone that the pandemic is not yet over, Omicron is here,” Villanueva said.

“Just be mindful of COVID, practice social distancing, wear masks all the time and sanitize. If not feeling weel, stay at home,” he stressed.