The Department of Health allayed fears of the public amid growing concerns about the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5. However, Filipinos should not let their guards down at this point in time.

Currently, the Philippines is still free of this more transmissible subvariant of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.

“For whatever variants that will come in the country, as long as our people know how to protect themselves through vaccination and through the compliance to the minimum public health standards, we need not worry. And as long as our healthcare system is ready and it is manageable, okay po tayo (we are okay),” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, Jan. 6.

“Kahit anong variant (Any variant), no matter how transmissible, as long as our healthcare system is prepared and our people are protected with vaccines, hindi natin makikita yung (we will not see the) overwhelming of our system,” she added.

However, the public should remain vigilant as this subvariant is currently the cause of the rise in Covid-19 cases in the US.

Citing observations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international experts, Vergeire said “this is the most transmissible variant so far.”

“In the US, during the first week of December, they were only able to detect around four percent of their cases na meron nitong(that have this) XBB.1.5. But during the last week of December, ang kanilang (their) XBB.1.5 already comprises 40 percent of their infection, so nakikita natin (we see) how transmissible this variant is,” said Vergeire.

PH case trend

At present, the number of new Covid-19 cases in the Philippines is still decreasing, said Vergeire.

“Ngayon, nakikita natin na ang ating kaso sa ating bansa ng Covid-19 ay (Currently, we see that the Covid-19 case in our country is) continuously going down. It has plateaued and has declined pero hindi natin masasabi na magtutuloy-tuloy ito. Kailangan pa rin natin maging mapagmatyag and monitor (but we cannot say that it will continue. We still need to be vigilant and monitor),” she said.

“Based on our current trends, our number of cases is lower by 28 percent compared to the previous week. We are now averaging 426 cases per day,” she added.

Asked if the Philippines will once again see more than 30,000 cases just like what happened last year due to the Omicron variant, Vergeire said this scenario is unlikely.

“We are not seeing in our estimates this rise in the number of infections. If you remember during the time of Omicron, we hit around 30,000 plus per day. At sa ngayon, kumpara sa (And right now, compared to) 426 cases per day, malayo po ang comparison (the comparison is far). And we are not seeing, even in our projections,” she said.

“This is because mas marami na sa atin ngayon ang bakunado, mas marami ngayon ang nagkaroon ng natural immunity na tinatawag (most of us are now vaccinated, most of us now have what we call natural immunity). So the immunity in our population is higher compared to last year,” she added.