Philippines ‘more ready’ to face Omicron variant, says DOH

Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed stock graph and words “Omicron SARS-CoV-2” in this illustration taken, Nov. 27, 2021. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is “more ready” to face the Omicron variant after the country’s experience in fighting the Delta variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

DOH Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said that as early as two weeks ago, the health agency already advised hospitals to prepare their facilities for a possible rise in coronavirus cases.

“Tayo ay nakapagbigay ng abiso two weeks prior to this week doon sa ating mga ospital that they should already be expanding their beds, stockpiling their medications,” Vergeire said in a press briefing.

(We have already advised hospitals since two weeks prior to this week that they should already be expanding their beds, stockpiling their medications.)

“We are ready for this and kung anuman ‘yung naexperience natin noong tumaas yung kaso noong nag Delta variant, tayo ay mas handa na ngayon dahil ating naranasan na ‘yung ganun karaming mga nagpunta sa ospital at prepared na tayong lahat,” she added.

(We are ready for this and whatever experience we got from the spike in cases due to the Delta variant, we are more ready now because we already experienced a massive number of people coming to hospitals in the past and we have all prepared already.)

In the same briefing, Vergeire announced that the Philippines is once again classified as “high risk” for COVID-19 transmission amid the recent increase in new COVID-19 infections in the country

On Sunday, the DOH reported that 4,600 more people in the country contracted COVID-19 — the highest number of fresh cases recorded since October 24, 2021.

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