DOH: Number of COVID cases among kids 11 below rose during Omicron surge

MANILA, Philippines — The percentage of COVID-19 cases recorded from children aged 11 and below among total pediatric cases was higher during the Omicron surge compared to Delta, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

“The contribution of children aged 0-11 years old in the total pediatric cases is higher during the Omicron wave compared to Delta. Cases among the 0-11 age group comprised an average of 56% of the total pediatric cases in September and this climbed up to 69.2% in January,” the DOH said in an advisory.

The DOH stressed that vaccination of the eligible population protects households and communities, as it “prevents further transmission and mutation of the virus.”

Meanwhile, in a Palace press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also reported that the percentage of hospitalized COVID-19 patients aged 17 and below was higher during the Omicron wave of infections as compared to Delta.

“With this Omicron situation, we have noted na tumaas po ang bilang ng mga naaadmit na kabataan. Isa po sa ating nanote would be about 14.5 percent—this is a percent to total admissions right now in this Omicron situation—are less than five years old,” she said.

(With this Omicron situation, we have noted an increase in the number of youth who are admitted to hospitals. We noted that 14.5 percent of the total admissions are children less than five years old.)

“’Yun namang five to 17 years old ay nasa mga about six percent. Kapag sinuma natin ‘yan that’s about 21 percent out of all the total admissions we have for this Omicron situation ay mga kabataan, comparing sa experience natin sa Delta na hindi ganito kataas,” said Vergeire, but did not provide comparative figures during the Delta surge.

(Patients aged five to 17 make up about six percent of the total hospital admissions. If we add this, we will see that about 21 percent of total admissions during the Omicron situation are the youth. During the Delta experience, it was not this high.)

The health official reiterated the need to vaccinate the younger population in order to protect them against COVID-19.

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