News

Omicron Cases Hit High at the Start of the Year

by Thyra Rush C. Valenzuela

March 29, 2022

The Omicron variant is proven to spread faster than the Delta variant and the original virus that spreads COVID-19. Data suggests that Omicron cases show mild symptoms such as cough and cold, although some may still acquire severe symptoms. The local spread of the variant in Metro Manila was confirmed on January 15, 2022, a few days after New Year, by the Philippine health ministry. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the steep rise in cases characterized the community transmission of the variant. “Infections may peak from the end of this month to mid-February,” she added.

The country’s COVID-19 cases have already hit a record high for three days straight, with 39,004 new infections and 280,813 active cases. This brought the country’s total cases, causing the Philippines to top Southeast Asia as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and casualties, second to Indonesia, with more than 3.16 million cases and 53,000 deaths.

Before the country’s first local transmission, the Philippines reported its first two omicron variant cases on December 15, 2021. From the official press release, the Department of Health (DOH), together with the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) and the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), said that they had detected two imported cases of the said variant from the 48 samples that they sequenced the other day. One case is a Returning Overseas Filipino (ROF) from Japan, and the other case is a Nigerian national from Nigeria. Both cases are asymptomatic. The isolation of these two cases is managed by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).

Due to this sudden surge, the government hiked the COVID-19 alert level for Metro Manila, where tighter restrictions were implemented, causing businesses to close once more and hospitals to be crowded. In Metro Manila, 55% of the beds in intensive care units are now occupied, as well as 52% of isolation beds, 69% of ward beds, and 26% of ventilators, according to The Inquirer. A “no vaccine, no ride” policy was also imposed on public transport systems to convince Filipinos to get vaccinated, as the government’s aim was to fully vaccinate the rest of the country’s adult population before the 2022 elections.

The government blamed people for becoming complacent during the Christmas holidays, as mask-wearing and social distancing were not strictly followed.