DOH reports 492 more cases of Omicron variant

FILE 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 — Health authorities have detected another 492 cases of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus out of 714 sequenced samples.

According to the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, 332 of the additional cases were detected locally while 160 were from returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs.)

Of the local cases, 227 had addresses in Metro Manila, while 76 were from Calabarzon, 11 from Central Luzon, five from Central Visayas, two each from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and Cordillera Administrative Region, and one each were from Ilocos Region, Mimaropa, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“Based on the case line list, three cases are still active, two cases have died, 467 cases have been tagged as recovered, while there are 20 cases whose outcomes are still being verified,” the DOH said in a statement.

With the new detection, the country now has 535 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant among those sequenced.

Other variants

Of the 714 samples sequenced last January 13 to 14, 115 were also traced to the Delta variant, while one local case was of the Alpha variant. Of the new Delta variant cases, 88 are local while 27 are from ROFs.

This brings the total number of confirmed Delta variant cases to 8,612 and Alpha variant cases to 3,170.

“With the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the DOH urges the public to follow protective health protocols and adhere to minimum public health standards,” the health department said.

“New protocols based on science and data such as shortened intervals for booster shots, childhood vaccination, shortened quarantine/isolation periods for fully vaccinated HCWs (healthcare workers) without symptoms, and targeted testing among others were put in place to mitigate the risks of the Omicron variant,” the agency added.

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