THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said there is still no community transmission of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) despite the 22 cases reported.
In a brief statement, the health department said that “community transmission is declared when linkages among local cases detected cannot be established. More confirmed cases with no linkages are needed in order to declare community transmission of the aforementioned variant.”
It said that only a local transmission of the subvariant has been identified.
Nevertheless, the DOH urged the public to continue following health protocols, particularly wearing fitted masks, isolating when sick, and ensuring good airflow.
“The general public is strongly advised to please get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible in light of waning immunity and possibly immune escaping characteristics of variants,” added the DOH.
Last Tuesday, the DOH reported the detection of five additional cases of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1, which brought the total number of infections to 22.
In Quezon City, the local Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit has come up with a three-level warning system in its continuing fight against COVID-19 in the city.
In a statement, the city government said the warning system “entails the systematic monitoring of new cases, analysis of trend, and recommendation of strategic measures to prevent another life-endangering outbreak.”
The color-schemed warning system have three categories namely white, yellow and red.
White is the lowest, which is the current status of the city, while red is the highest.
There are four indicators to determine the city’s alert status — the growth rate between the current and previous week, the seven-day daily attack rate, the daily positivity rate with seven-day moving average, and the reproduction number.
The city government said white alert will be declared if COVID-19 cases are “below average and all data indicators are considered stable.” It said a surge is not expected in the next 14 days under such status.
Yellow status is declared when COVID-19 cases are increasing compared to the previous and when three of the four indicators have increased from normal to above normal. Under such state, there is possibility of a surge within the next 14 days.
“A red status is raised when cases continue to rise and all other indicators remain high or have breached the indicated threshold. This indicates the start of a surge,” the city government said.
It said that if the city is under yellow or red status, communities are “expected to be on high-alert and to follow strict minimum public health standards.”
City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the warning system is among the measures being adopted by the city to prevent a surge of the virus in the city.
“As our doctors would say ‘prevention is better than cure’. At this point, there’s too much at stake to let all our efforts go to waste. We cannot afford to go back to zero,” said Belmonte.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration said it is prepared for the influx of foreign students returning to the country now that the government has eased its COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said he had already instructed BI staff and employees to coordinate with other agencies and stakeholders to ensure the smooth processing of returning foreign students.
“This would be the Bureau’s share in helping the recovery of the education sector that was also badly hit by the pandemic,” he said.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, majority of foreign students in the Philippines were repatriated to their home countries following nationwide closures and lockdowns.
Prior to the pandemic, the BI said there were more than 35,000 foreign students enrolled in different universities and schools in the country, many of which are in the medical field.
The Department of Tourism has been marketing the Philippines as a destination for foreign students, particularly targeting those who wish to study the English language.
For his part, Anthony Cabrera, chief of the BI’s Student Visa Section, said that they are expecting the return of foreign students to the country by the third quarter of 2022 when schools start their school year.
He said that some schools have already announced that they will hold limited face-to-face classes.
“We are encouraging these foreign students to come back and continue their courses, which have been disrupted by the pandemic,” Cabrera said, adding that he has met with school officials and groups who have expressed their desire to resume accepting foreign students.
Cabrera also said that they have coordinated with different government agencies in charge of foreign students to ensure that they are ready to process the applications of those who will be returning to the country.
