The Department of Health (DOH) said that all hospitals nationwide are ready in case the country experiences a spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections anew amid growing concerns about the Omicron variant.
"Siyempre yung mga hospital natin handa naman iyan lagi dahil kasama sa trabaho nila iyan. Kung magkaroon ng emergency halimbawa---biglaang pagsipa ng kaso ay handa naman sila para tugunan iyon (Of course our hospitals are always ready for that because that is part of their job. If there is an emergency for example --- a sudden increase in cases, they are ready to respond)," said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a radio interview on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
On Dec. 27, the DOH reported that the country's health system capacity was still under low-risk classification as the total bed utilization was at 16 percent, while the intensive care unit (ICU) utilization was at 17 percent.
On Dec. 28, the Octa Research Group said that it observed a rise in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
OCTA research fellow Dr. Guido David said the COVID-19 situation in the metropolis is now considered a "concern" and "this is not just a holiday uptick."
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergiere said that they are continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation across the country.
“Cases are expected to increase due to the holiday-related mobility and reduced compliance to MPHS (minimum public health standards),” she said on Wednesday.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation, though we cannot still be certain that the increase in cases is due to the Omicron variant,” she added.
“We are calling on the public and the LGUs (local government units) to ensure safety protocols are implemented and every Filipino is vaccinated,” she furthered.
COVID-19 cases
Another 889 COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Wednesday. During the previous days, the Philippines was only recording 200 to 400 cases daily.
To note, the last time that the country recorded over 1,000 cases in a day was on Nov. 23.
Wednesday’s figure raised the country's total tally of confirmed cases since last year to 2,839,790, based on the latest case bulletin of the DOH.
Of the total figure, 0.4 percent or 10,418 cases are still being treated.
The DOH said that 4,384 of the active cases are experiencing mild symptoms, 536 are asymptomatic, 374 are critical, 1,778 are severe, and 3,346 are moderate.
The death toll also increased to 51,241 with 28 new fatalities, while the recovery tally soared to 2,778,131 after 214 new patients survived.