Says trend of rising cases characteristic of Omicron variant; PHL still in critical risk

(Eagle News) – Severe and critical cases are on a plateau while mild cases are increasing as the Department of Health noted an epidemic curve that is characteristic of the Omicron variant.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also noted a decrease in the percentage of the rise in cases in the last few weeks, and hopefully would plateau soon, he said.

Duque explained to President Rodrigo Duterte the latest data on the virus cases in the country.

From January 11 to January 17, the one week average of daily cases is 34,923 per day, which is higher by 71 percent compared to the week prior January 4 to January 10 where the country logged 20,462 cases, he said.

This is higher by 689 percent over the week prior to that which is December 28 to January 3 at 2,592, Duque said.

“So kung makikita natin 725 percent tapos ang kanyang itinaas from the prior week and then sumunod a week after 689, 71 percent,” the health chief said.

“So bumabagal, bumababa po ‘yung porsiyento ng pagtaas ng mga kaso, Mr. President,” he noted in President Duterte’s latest “Talk to the People.”

-“Decoupling” noted as critical COVID-19 cases, ICU bed utilization remain low-

But Duque stressed that there seems to be a “decoupling” in the sense that with the rise in COVID-19 cases, the number of those with severe and critical cases remained low, or already plateauing, including the severe and critical cases being admitted in hospitals.

This is starkly different from the last peak with the Delta variant where critical and severe cases were rising steadily.

“Dati ang Delta pag sumipa ang kaso, sumisipa rin ang ICU cases, yung severe, critical cases.  Dito ngayon, parang may ‘decoupling’ o bumabaklas na sa admission curve na mataas,” he said.

With the Omicron variant getting more dominant in the country, the number of those with critical and severe cases remained low, Duque noted.

As of Monday, January 17, the critical cases based on the Department of Health data were 304, while severe cases were 1,480. These numbers were even lower than the number of severe and critical cases in December and in even in previous months.

-Vaccination effective in lowering severe, critical cases -Duque

This showed that vaccination of the population is effective in lowering the numbers of severe and critical cases, he said.  The latest vaccination data in the country showed 71 percent of the targeted population have already been fully vaccinated.

Of the 11,952 total admissions as of January 16, 2022, only 10 percent are severe cases at 1,144, while only four percent are critical cases at 458, he said.

Majority of the cases in hospitals are mild.   Majority of the remaining active cases are also either mild or asymptomatic.

But Duque stressed that it is important to be continuously on the alert and for the public to continue to follow minimum public health standards since the strategy of “mask, hugas, iwas” is still the best strategy to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

He said that the Omicron variant is highly infectious, more infectious than previous variants, and it is still important for Filipinos to complete their vaccination and avail of booster shots to protect themselves from getting the severe form of the COVID-19 virus.

Duque said the whole country is still under critical risk classification because of the spike in COVID-19 cases, while the health care utilization rates “range from low to moderate risk levels,”

(Eagle News Service)