An infectious disease expert believes that the Omicron coronavirus variant has already spread in the communities amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases daily.

“Sa situation natin ngayon (In our current situation), with the enormous number of people being positive with just a short duration of time and most of them are manifesting with an upper respiratory tract symptoms, then I would say there is already community transmission of Omicron variant,” said Dr. Rontgene Solante, chief of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit of the San Lazaro Hospital, during a public briefing on Saturday, Jan. 8.

Solante noted that Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta coronavirus variant.

“If we're going to base the ability of the Delta to transmit a single interaction, sa isang positive (in one positive case) it can infect like five to eight . Now, the experts' opinion here is that because of these heavy mutations, the Omicron variant can be three to five times as highly transmissible as that of Delta,” he said.

“That's why we're seeing a lot of these positives now— not only in the community. We're also seeing a lot of this in the healthcare facilities and most of the healthcare facilities now, I would say, 1/3 to 1/2 of the total healthcare manpower are positive with COVID,” he added.

To note, the Department of Health (DOH) has yet to officially confirm if there is already a community transmission of Omicron variant in the Philippines.

He suggested that areas experiencing a spike in cases should be placed in a higher alert level to curb the rising number of infections.

“Alam naman natin na ang (We know that the) escalation to a higher alert level will always be dictated by the number of cases—I mean, with the hospital facilities now, shortage of health workers, and most of those patients with high transmissibility in the community, then I would think–in my opinion, we need a higher level than what we have now,” said Solante.

Omicron as ‘natural vaccine’

Solante also reiterated the pronouncement of some medical experts and the Department of Health (DOH) that Omicron is not a “natural vaccine” but a virus.

“The point here is that even if you are infected with Omicron variant, it doesn't mean that you are— in your lifetime— protected against COVID,” he said.

“As long as there is mutation, as long as there is community transmission, then you can always get COVID. How do we minimize and mitigate this transmission? It’s only through vaccines,” he added.

He also emphasized the importance of quarantine to cut the chain of transmission.

“We would like to remind everyone na napakataas ng transmission ngayon (that the current transmission is very high). You have to take into consideration, very important, if you have symptoms—you need to isolate yourself,” he said.

“For those who have been exposed, then you have to quarantine. Huwag tayong magpakampante na wala kayong naramdaman (Let's not be complacent even if you don't have any symptoms) because when you go to your workplaces, you can be a potential transmitter of the infection,” he added.

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DOH, health experts counter notion that Omicron is a 'natural vaccine,' signals end of COVID-19 pandemic