The Philippines is classified “high risk” for COVID-19 again following the sharp increase in cases in the past few days, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said, adding that the positivity rate in all regions has increased.
She said the country's national healthcare utilization rate remains at “low risk.”
Vergeire said the average daily virus cases in the Philippines increased almost seven times compared to the previous week, with Metro Manila showing rapid increase in the number of infections.
Vergeire said the DOH also noted an increase in COVID-19 patients admitted in Metro Manila hospitals.
Vergeire said the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant is likely driving the surge, as the Philippines has detected 14 Omicron cases, including three local transmissions.
On Tuesday, the DOH reported 5,434 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,861,119.
The DOH also reported that 18 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 51,604.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire projected that cases will peak at the end of this month.
“The assumption would be based on calculations that Omicron is eight times more transmissible than Delta and that the peak will happen by the end of January,” she told a television interview, adding “this transmission is within our communities already.”
