New Omicron subvariants unlikely to trigger ‘major’ outbreak in PH — OCTA

Screengrab from Pandesal Forum-Kamuning Bakery Cafe Facebook Live

MANILA, Philippines—The new COVID-19 Omicron subvariants are unlikely to pose a “major threat of an outbreak” once it enters the country, independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research said on Wednesday.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David made the assurance amid their projections of up to 100,000 active cases should the Omicron sub variants be detected in our territory.

READ: OCTA: Surge seen if Omicron subvariant detected in PH; up to 100K active cases projected 

“Based on the data that we are seeing, the presentation is not that much different from Omicron and the characteristics are not that much different, which means that the cases will most likely be mild,” David said over ABS-CBN News Channel when asked what kind of COVID-19 resurgence the country is expecting.

“That’s why we are not super concerned that this will trigger a, you know, major threat of an outbreak,” David added.

David also noted that the cases “will most likely be mild” for those who are vaccinated.

“We have to remind our kababayans that even though this might be mild for vaccinated people, It may not be mild necessarily for unvaccinated people and those with comorbidities,” he said.

The professor also pointed out that the new sub variants will not fill hospitals up unlike the Delta variant surge.

“The hospitals will not get filled up, and it will not really be a major public health concern unlike the Delta variant which  we saw last year,” David also said. “But it will still probably cause a disruption.”

As of Monday, the Health Department reported a total of 3,684,835 of COVID-19 infections, including 11,580 active cases, 3,613,060 recoveries and 60,195 deaths.

JPV