PNP chief Carlos contracts suspected Omicron variant of COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: Philippine National Police chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos. INQUIRER/NIñO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos has tested positive for COVID-19, he told reporters on Tuesday through a message, suspecting that he has been hit by the highly infectious Omicron variant.

“This is to confirm that I, PGen Dionardo B. Carlos, tested positive for COVID-19 (suspected Omicron variant),” Carlos said in a message to members of the PNP’s Press Corps.

Aside from him, Carlos said that his aide and driver who were with him in a car last Sunday morning were also infected. He said that they had themselves tested after some of the personnel in the official residence of the PNP chief experienced fever and chills.

“Last Sunday evening, … I subjected my close-in security, staff, and myself to RT-PCR tests due to reports of fever and chills experienced by my White House personnel,” he added.

“Unfortunately, I too, tested positive including my duty driver and aide who were with me in the van Sunday morning. I experienced fever, chills and body sweats Sunday evening but come Monday 03Jan22, only lower back pain remains,” he added.

Vital signs shared by Carlos showed that he is currently not experiencing any severe symptom of the disease, as his temperature is around 37.1 degrees Celsius, while his oxygen saturation and blood pressure are normal.

Earlier, the PNP reported a huge increase in active COVID-19 infections, jumping from just 14 last December 28 to 164 on Tuesday.  This was after 107 new cases were recorded by the PNP’s Health Service.

In contrast, only eight new cases were recorded on Monday, January 3.

The Omicron variant is said to be more infectious than the Delta variant that caused the surge in the country from August to September last year.

Metro Manila is currently under Alert Level 3 until January 15, due to the sharp uptick in COVID-19 cases after the holiday season.  As of Monday, the country’s active COVID-19 infections continued to increase, now at 24,992 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 4,084 new infections.

The increase came after a relatively low number of daily cases before the holidays — ranging from 300 to 500 with the active case count down to below 10,000.

Some experts believe that the quick rise in COVID-19 infections may have been due to the Omicron variant, which is believed to be more infectious than the Delta variant.

EDV