WHILE the government’s attention shifts to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Health yesterday reported over 500 new Delta variant cases.
Based on the latest Philippine Genome Center (PGC) biosurveillance report, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they have yet to detect any cases of the Omicron variant.
“We have reported that out of all of those samples tested in this latest whole genome sequencing run, we have yet to detect the Omicron variant,” said Vergeire, adding: “Most of the detections were that of the Delta variant.”
Vergeire said that of the latest genome sequencing batch comprising 629 samples, there were 571 (90.78%) that were positive from Delta variant (B.1.617.2).
This brings to a total of 7,848 Delta variant cases detected in the country.
“The Delta variant (B.1.617.2; Indian lineage) is the most common lineage (40.54%) nationally among sequenced samples,” the DOH said.
The latest batch also detected one (0.16%) additional case of the Beta variant (B.1.351 or South Africa). There are now a total of 3,630 Beta variant cases detected in the country.
The latest genome sequencing also saw one (0.16%) additional case of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7 or UK), bringing to a total of 3,168 Alpha variant cases detected in the country.
The total Gamma variant cases detected in the Philippines stood at three.
As to the back tracing being conducted for recent arrivals from South Africa, the DOH said that of the 253 travelers, only 80 have been contacted.
The contact status of the other 165 are undergoing verification, while the remaining eight remain unlocated.
Among those contacted, Vergeire said four have been found negative during retesting, while the other 76 have yet to be retested.
Seventy one of the 80 contacted are quarantined in government facilities, four are isolated at home, while five have already been discharged.
The DOH also said that of the 80 contacted travelers, 77 are returning overseas Filipinos while three are foreign nationals.
Vergeire reiterated it is just a matter of time before the Omicron variant will be able to enter the country.
“We cannot 100 percent control or prevent the entry of these variants… We are not saying that it will not enter the country. What we are discussing now is when it will enter the country,” said the health official.
Meanwhile, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion appealed to the DOH to decide and revert the facility quarantine requirements to three days before December 15 to allow returning Filipinos who test negative for the virus to be released from quarantine in time to celebrate Christmas with their families.
Concepcion said this could be implemented as the daily new cases in the entire country now number only in the hundreds, and all other indicators, except ICU utilization rates which are still feeling the remnants of the Delta surge, remain low.
“Our kababayans should spend Christmas at home, not in a foreign land and definitely not at a quarantine facility,” said Concepcion.
“I personally think the risk is low since we will require PCR tests to be done 72 hours before departure and then again upon arrival, and then three days stay in quarantine. This should be time enough; in all, it will be a total of six days already,” he added.
Confirmed daily cases in the Philippines are one of the lowest in the world. As of December 4, The Philippines has 4.01 daily cases per million people, compared with 364.77 in the US, 658 in the UK, and 183.97 in Singapore.
The strategies that were employed worked, said Concepcion, including the decision to prioritize the NCR in terms of vaccinations, as well as locking it down in August.
Closing down the borders is the first in the country’s four-door policy, which includes fortifying the areas surrounding the major entry points. The NCR hosts the country’s biggest airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The NCR was also the focus of Concepcion’s Bakuna Bubble strategy, in which only fully vaccinated individuals were granted mobility in areas considered high risk.
Concepcion also called for a strict lockdown to be implemented in NCR last August, as suggested by the independent OCTA Research, who saw an oncoming uptick in cases because of the Delta variant, to head off a possible further increase in cases in the fourth quarter of the year. The private sector is banking on the fourth quarter to recoup losses after months of lockdowns.
“Looking at the numbers, it is clear that we are on safe grounds right now,” said Concepcion.
