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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOH: PH not seeing peak of COVID-19 cases yet, Metro Manila experiencing Omicron community transmission

DOH: PH not seeing peak of COVID-19 cases yet, Metro Manila experiencing Omicron community transmission

Published Jan 15, 2022 02:29 pm

A police officer checks the vaccination cards of passengers at a jeepney stop in Divisoria, Manila on Jan. 14, 2022 in line with the implementation of the Department of Transportation’s “No Vaccination, No Ride” policy in the capital region while under the more stringent Alert Level 3. (Ali Vicoy / MANILA BULLETIN)

There is no sign yet that the country's coronavirus disease (COVID) cases will peak in the coming days, while there is already a community transmission of Omicron variant in Metro Manila, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday, Jan. 15.

“We are not seeing the peak of cases yet,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a public briefing.

“Nakikita ho natin na maari pang mag doble ang numero ng active cases natin (We see that the number of our active cases can even double),” she added.

As of this writing, there are 265,509 active cases nationwide. On Friday, the Philippines registered its highest-single day tally of cases so far at 37,207.

However, Vergeire said it is possible that the peak may happen by the end of this month or second week of February.

In Metro Manila, the DOH official said that the spread of the Omicron variant is now evident.

“Dito sa (Here in the) National Capital Region, we are seeing community transmission nitong (of the) Omicron variant,” she said.

The average daily number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila is at 17,124, said Vergeire.

“The National Capital Region now has 149,000 active cases. Nakikita natin base sa mga projections po ng eksperto...patuloy pong tataas ang ating mga kaso (Based on the projections of our experts... cases will continue to increase),” she said.

Other regions

COVID-19 cases in regions outside Metro Manila are also increasing, said Vergeire.

Vergeire specifically said that the regions with an ongoing spike in cases are: Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Bicol Region.

“Halos lahat po talaga ay may pagtaas sa ngayon ng kanilang two-week growth rate and average daily attack rate. Lahat ng ating regions sa country ay may high risk classification (Almost all regions have an increase in their two-week growth rate and average daily attack rate. All our regions in the country have a high risk classification),” she said.

Still seeing clear picture

Despite this, the DOH official assured the public that they are still seeing the clear picture of the country’ COVID-19 situation.

“We are still guided by the numbers that we get from our laboratories–those testing positive,” said Vergeire.

“We are still seeing the true picture, we are still at par doon sa ating nakikita base sa (with what we see based on) laboratory results. But of course yung ating caveat ngayon yung (our caveat now are) those who are using antigen tests or maybe they are not opting to get tested because they just isolate themselves,” she added.

Related Tags

covid-19 Department of Health (DOH) peak Philippines community transmission OMICRON VARIANT
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