DOH detects 1,030 new cases of COVID Omicron subvariants

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THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported that 1,030 new cases of the Omicron subvariants of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been detected in the country, most of which are of the fast-spreading BA.5 subvariant.

The health department said the latest genome sequencing results showed 1,011 additional BA.5 cases and 19 additional BA.4 cases.

“At the moment, the exposure of individuals, travel histories, and health status are being verified,” it said.

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Among the additional BA.5 cases, all regions, except the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), have at least one case reported.

A total of 690 individuals have been fully vaccinated, 12 are partially vaccinated, three have not been vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining 306 are still being verified.

The DOH said 907 individuals are now tagged as recovered, 53 are still undergoing isolation, two have died, while the outcome of the remaining 49 are being verified.

The additional BA.5 cases increases the total in the country to 5,214.

As for the additional BA.4 cases, there were 12 individuals from Soccsksargen, three each from the Bicol Region and Western Visayas, and one from the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Of the number, 13 individuals are fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining five are still being verified.

The DOH said 15 individuals are now tagged as recovered, three are still undergoing isolation, and one has died.

In all, there are now a total of 168 BA.4 cases detected in the Philippines.

As additional cases of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariant were reported by the DOH, the independent OCTA Research warned the public against complacency despite the downward trend already being observed in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In a social media post, OCTA fellow Guido David said warned the trend may still be reversed.

“While cases may have already peaked in the NCR, the trends will need to hold as trends are still reversible,” said David, pointing out that “risk levels remained moderate in the NCR. The wave is not yet over.”

On Monday, OCTA said the NCR could already be seeing the start of a downward trend with the one-week case growth rate dropping to -1 percent.

Yesterday (Tuesday), OCTA noted that the one-week growth rate of cases in the NCR decreased further to -7 percent.

Similarly, David noted that the positivity rate in the region dropped further to 16.1 percent (as of August 14) from 17.3 percent (as of August 7).

“The daily positivity rate in the NCR has been trending downward since the first week of August 2022,” said David.

The reproduction number in Metro Manila has also dipped to 1.13, as of August 12, an improvement from the reproduction rate of 1.19 recorded last August 5.

David said the health care utilization rate in the region is at 37 percent as of August 14, while the ICU occupancy rate was at 32 percent.

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‘HIGH TRAVEL RISK’

Even as COVID-19 cases in the country are seeing a downtrend, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has included the Philippines, along with Russia and Nepal, in its list of international destination under the high travel risk or Level 3 category.

The “high” travel risk level is the highest health notice under the revamped system that the CDC categorizes destinations for American travelers.

The CDC has previously implemented a four-level travel risk system for COVID-19 international destinations, with Level 4 being the highest. But in April this year, the center revamped the system with Level 3 becoming the top rung in terms of risk level. Level 4 is now reserved for destinations under special circumstances, such as those with extremely high COVID case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern to health authorities or the collapse of health care infrastructure.

The CDC urged Americans traveling to the Philippines and other countries on the said list to ensure that they are fully vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus.

“If you are not up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, avoid travel to the Philippines.

Even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19,” the CDC warned, adding that American travelers with weak immune system should forego or delay their trip to the country.

Aside from the Philippines, Russia and Nepal, others in the list are Brazil, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Level 3 applies to destinations that have had over 100 cases per 100,000 people in the past 28 days.

The DOH has recorded 28,008 additional COVID-19 cases, or 4,001 infections per day, from August 8 to 14, which is three percent higher than the infections recorded a week before.

The increase according to health experts are fueled by the presence of several COVID variants, increased mobility of the population, and the waning vaccine immunity of the people.

In February this year, the CDC also discouraged Americans from travelling to the Philippines due to the increase in COVID-19 cases fueled by the surge in Omicron variant cases.

The CDC lowered the country’s COVID-19 travel risk level to “moderate” in April due to the decline in the number of daily cases.

DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire brushed off the country’s inclusion in the CDC’s list of territories at high risk for COVID-19, saying the US agency is using a different set of metrics than the Philippines.

Vergeire pointed out that the high-risk classification given by the US CDC to the Philippines is not reflective of the DOH’s own assessment of the COVID situation.

“The indicators or metrics being used by the CDC for them to classify a country as high risk or low risk or moderate risk is different from the measurements or metrics we use in our country. In our country, we have aligned with most of the countries in giving weight to the health care utilization rate (HCUR). For CDC, they are using the incidence rate triangulated with the testing data,” Vergeire said.

What is more important to the DOH, the health official stressed, is that the HCUR in the country remains at manageable level.

“What is most of value for us right now is that we are able to preserve our healthcare system capacity,” she said.

In addition, she said they are also putting more value in seeing a low number of severe and critical cases of COVID-19. — With Ashzel Hachero

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