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'Stealth' Omicron variant no longer 'a major concern' -- OCTA fellow
'Stealth' Omicron variant no longer 'a major concern' -- OCTA fellow
For OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David, the BA.2 Omicron subvariant, sometimes referred to as "stealth Omicron," is no longer "a major concern."
David, in an interview with CNN Philippines on Tuesday, Feb. 1, explained that based on the reproduction number OCTA Research measured in different provinces, the BA.2 subvariant has "already caused transmission in many areas all over the country."
"In fact, most of Luzon may have already been affected with the BA.2 subvariant. So right now, because it has already entered the country and has already caused the transmission in many places, it's no longer a major concern, in my opinion, because you now, we have essentially attained some level of population immunity against Omicron, especially in areas where we're seeing a downward trend," David noted.
The OCTA Research fellow said the "worst may be over" in most parts of the country as COVID-19 cases decline.
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"Of course trends can still change, what we're saying is that the worst may be over, meaning that the peak has happened. Peak of the surge has happened in many areas, that includes and all of Calabarzon, this also includes Central Luzon, actually most of Luzon is probably on a decreasing trend already. That also includes Cebu City and Davao City," David continued.
"The reason for the downward trend is not just the interventions and what we do but also we have achieved some level of population immunity against the virus," he added.
Meanwhile, David attributed the uptick of about 4,000 COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila to backlogs.
"It could have been just a random uptick due to backlog. Unfortunately, we don't have complete access to the data of the Department of Health. But why am I attributing this to backlog? Well, the positivity rate is still decreasing. It's now down to 17 percent," he explained.
David said the hospital care utilization is decreasing and "no indication" that there would be a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
"Having said that, I wouldn't rule out completely the possibility that, you know, an uptick could occur, or maybe occurring. So we'll have to wait for a few more days to you know, really look at the data if it continues to have these random upticks in cases," David furthered.