Vergeire: IATF to discuss if countries with local transmissions of Omicron variant be added to red list

The Inter-Agency Task Force is considering including countries with local transmission of the Omicron variant to the red list, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergerie said this will be discussed in the coming days.

“[W]e have discussed yesterday that maybe countries with local transmission already, as had been announced, will be included as part of the discussions in the coming days,” Vergeire told CNN.

However, Vergeire stressed the presence of the Omicron variant is not part of the factors in the classification of red list countries.

“[T]he metrics stay, so we’re looking at the incidence rate or the number of new cases in each country in the world. Also, we’re looking at how fast the number of cases is increasing in each of the countries… plus their testing ratio,” she said.

“So the presence of Omicron is not part of the factors or the criteria into how we are classifying countries as to red countries,” she added.

At present, the DOH said the Omicron variant has been detected in 77 countries across the globe, of which 33 have suspected or confirmed local transmissions.

Health Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea de Guzman also said it is possible for the Philippines to experience higher peaks in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant compared to previous variants of concern.

However, the DOH also projected that active cases in the country may decrease to less than 2,000 by the end of January if the public will continue to comply with minimum public health standards. — Joahna Lei Casilao/RSJ, GMA News