Vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong on Wednesday, April 6, warned the public against the new variant of Covid-19 called “XE.”

The cardiologist, in an ambush interview, said there is a 35 percent chance that Covid-19 cases will increase after the May 9 polls.

“Pero sa ngayon mukhang hindi naman kakalat pero as usual sinasabi ko sana naghanda tayo sa ospital, sa gamot, sa health workers, para just in case may dumating. Ang prediction ko nga after elections may 35 percent chance na tumaas (But right now it doesn't seem to be spreading but as usual I would suggest that we prepare the hospitals, the medicine, the health workers, just in case something comes up. My prediction is that after elections it has a 35 percent chance to increase),” Ong said.

Through this, Ong said the government would not need to impose sudden lockdowns.

“Pero sa ngayon mababa naman, less than two percent ang positivity rate, ibig sabihin maliit ang tsansa na makahawa sa panahon na 'to (But right now, the positivity rate is less than two percent, which means there is little chance of getting infected during this time),” Ong said.

Ong, however, underscored the need for the authorities to tighten the country’s borders and enforce strict health protocols to prevent the entry of the XE variant into the country.

“Dapat naman talaga maghigpit, lagi tayong mahigpit sa borders natin e kasi pag pumasok at pag tumaas na ‘yung kaso kulang na naman ‘yung ospital natin, kulang ‘yung gamit natin, dun na naman magkukumahog ‘yung mga kababayan natin (We should really have to be strict, we should always be strict with our borders because when it enters and the case rises, hospitals will be not be enough again, we lack the equipment, our compatriots will panic again),” Ong pointed out.

The XE variant is a combination of two Omicron sub-variants – BA.1 and BA.2.

“Lagi nating binabantayan itong mga pandemic na darating. Actually, matagal ko ng alam itong XE Omicron. Ito ‘yung pangatlong klase, nagsama ‘yung una at ‘yung pangalawa (We are always on the lookout for these coming pandemics. Actually, I've known about this XE Omicron for a long time. This is the third class, the first and the second are combined),” he said.