New variant to displace Delta in PH – WHO

THE World Health Organization believes that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) virus will replace Delta as the prevailing variant in the Philippines.

The statement was issued as the country continues to grapple with a surge in Covid-19 cases. On Wednesday, the Department of Health reported 32,246 new cases reported on Wednesday, with 208,164 active cases, the highest since the start of the pandemic.

Nearly all of the cases happened during the period from December 30 to January 12. Most of the cases — 88 percent — came from the National Capital Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Central Luzon.

The positivity rate was at 45.7 percent, meaning that out of the 63,903 samples processed, 29,204 tested positive.

WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that the Omicron variant could be driving the exponential increase in the past few weeks.

He added that Filipinos harbored a “false sense of security” during the holiday season.

“Unfortunately, we saw that the very low number of cases that we were reporting in early December that there was a sort of release, that there was now an opportunity to be free of this virus but that was a false sense of security. And of course, because those precautions were not followed in some areas, we are now seeing the results of that,” Abeyasinghe said during the Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday.

Although the Philippines has limited sequencing data, he believes that the Omicron variant, which was first discovered in South Africa, may displace Delta as the “predominant variant” in the country.

Because of the continued spread of cases, the official said that it is best for the government to give testing priority to symptomatic senior citizens and vulnerable populations and quarantine their close contacts instead of testing all of them.

Abeyasinghe also believes that the Alert Level 3 system in place in the National Capital Region and other provinces need not be escalated to Alert Level 4.

He said that the concept of “herd immunity” should no longer be considered because as the virus continues to mutate, it could remove any immunity given either by the vaccine or by prior infection.

“What is more important is that we assume that everybody is at risk and try to protect them as much as possible through ensuring that our systems are ready...[and] more than that, the vaccination and the compliance with the minimum public health standards,” Abeyasinghe said.

He urged the government to take risk-based measures in preventing the spread of the virus without going into lockdowns that could hurt the economy.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd also on Wednesday admitted that other regions are experiencing a surge but stopped short of attributing the spike to the Omicron variant or a combination of Omicron, Delta and increased mobility during the holiday season. Meanwhile, infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante warned that unvaccinated persons with immunocompromised diseases such as HIV and cancer could breed a possible new variant of concern.

“As long as there is transmission and there is the ability of the virus to lodge in host cells, especially in immunocompromised individuals...that is why we need to prioritize this population as the next variant of concern will [come] from these individuals,” Solante said during a webinar organized by the Philippine College of Physicians. He said that countries with low vaccination coverage and high transmission rates such as the Philippines can also be a possible breeding ground for new variants.