The Department of Health said there are no reports yet of the Omicron XE variant of Covid-19 being found in the Philippines.
The strain is a recombination of two Omicron sub-variants.
“As of now, we have not detected an XE variant in the country. This variant has only been detected in only three or four countries,” Health Usec Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
Vergeire assured the public the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in 14 Alert Level 1 areas in the country is not a cause for concern. She said there has been a slight uptick in the areas’ one-week growth rate.
“These areas are experiencing a slight increase in cases. The one week growth rate in these areas turned positive because the other areas had two cases from zero cases,” she said.
“But it doesn’t mean that the increases were significant. It’s less than 20, so it’s really not significant yet,” she added.
She said the slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases will have no impact on its hospital utilization and bed utilization rates.
The increase in Covid-19 cases happened a day after the World Health Organization issued a warning of another surge in infections by mid-May if the minimum public health standards are ignored.
WHO Representative to the Philippines, Dr. Rajendra Yadav, expressed concern that the non-adherence of the public to MPHS will lead to another increase of Covid-19 cases by next month.
“If we relax our guards, if we relax our defenses, then yes, it’s possible to get to those numbers,” Yadav added.
He backed the earlier projection of the DOH, which stated a 30 percent decrease in the MPHS may lead to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, possibly as high as 300,000. – Press release
April 26, 2024
