Filipinos were warned against complacency following the detection of the new Omicron strain BQ.1 in the Philippines.
Although it was seen to cause mostly mild and asymptomatic infections, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David, on Saturday, Nov. 26 advised the public to keep their guard up against Omicron BQ.1.
“Based on the data, deaths and hospitalizations did not increase much in other countries due to BQ.1. Most of the cases are mild or asymptomatic, but this does not mean that Omicron is mild, it just means that if we are vaccinated, our protection against severe infection of Covid-19 is stronger,” said David in an interview over DZBB.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, Nov. 25, confirmed the detection of 14 BQ.1 cases in the country. 13 of these newly-detected cases are local infections recorded in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, and Central Visayas.
David, on the other hand, said the new subvariant possibly caused the recent uptick of Covid-19 positivity rate in several areas of the country. Apart from Metro Manila, areas with high positivity rate include Camarines Sur, Aklan, Tarlac, La Union, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Isabela.
Cebu’s Covid-19 positivity rate is also being closely monitored by the independent group of experts.
Meanwhile, BQ.1 was labeled as “more infectious and highly immune evasive.”
“Huwag tayong maging kampante kasi unang-una kahit bakunado tayo, meron pa ring tinatamaan ng severe Covid-19. Kahit tayo ay bakunado at mild , pwede rin nating madala ‘yung sakit (Let us not be complacent because first of all, even though we are vaccinated, some people still get affected by severe Covid-19. Besides, even if we are vaccinated and do get a mild infection, we can still carry the disease) ,” said David.
“Huwag nating balewalain ito. Hindi naman natin sinasabing huwag na tayong lumabas ng bahay, kailangan lang mag-ingat (Let us not ignore it. We are not saying that we should not leave the house, we just have to be careful),” he furthered.