DOH: No reason to increase alert level system yet

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said it sees no reason to raise the alert level system even with the detection of the Omicron variant in the country.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency is following certain metrics in lowering or raising the alert level system in an area.

“Sa ngayon, wala pa po tayong rason para itaas agad ulit ang ating mga alert level system (for now, we see no reason to immediately raise our alert level system),” Vergeire said during a media briefing.

“Tayo po ay patuloy na magmamatyag, magmomonitor para makita natin, the very first sign na makakakita po tayo ng parang tumaas ang mga kaso, hindi po tayo maghihintay o made-delay sa response na ‘yan,” she added.

(We will continue to monitor so that at the first sign of an increase in cases, our response will not be delayed.)

At present, all areas in the Philippines are under Alert Level 2.

The Philippines said Wednesday it detected its first two cases of the Omicron variant from international travelers from Japan and Nigeria.

Despite this, Vergeire said the DOH cannot say for certain that the National Capital Region or other provinces will not experience an increase in cases.

“I cannot say for certain that NCR will not experience any increase in cases nor with the other areas,” she said.

Amid fears that the variant may lower the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, Vergeire stressed that this can still offer protection to the public.

“Ang tanging paalala lang po natin, ang bakuna po kahit bawasan lang ang pagiging epektibo o ang effectiveness nito sa sinasabing ebidensya na ‘yan, meron pa ring proteksyon na ibibigay sa atin,” she said.

(Let me just remind you that even if the effectiveness of vaccines are lowered, it can still provide protection against COVID-19.)

“Magpabakuna na po tayong lahat (I urge everyone to get vaccinated). This is one of the things that we should do right now in order to protect ourselves and our family,” she added.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said the DOH has been discussing the test kits that can supposedly detect the Omicron variant.

“It can just help you to immediately streamline or shortlist kung sino 'yung dapat i-sequence mo. At the end of the day, still need to do genome sequencing,” Vergeire said.

Should the government procure the test kits, she said these may be used in far-flung provinces.

“So pinag-uusapan pa rin natin ‘yan kasi pwede nating gawin 'yan sa malalayong lugar (so we’ve been talking about it because it can be used in far-flung areas),” Vergeire said.

“Pero dito sa Metro Manila, for example, or sa karatig na mga probinsya which are very accessible to the PGC, ‘yung whole genome sequencing na po ang gagawin natin so that we do not add another layer,” she added.

(But here in Metro Manila, for example, or in nearby provinces which are accessible to PGC, we can just do the whole genome sequencing so we do not add another layer.)

Meanwhile, Vergere said the travelers from Burkina Faso and Egypt did not test positive for the Omicron variant.

The DOH previously reported that three travelers from South Africa, Burkina Faso, and Egypt tested positive for COVID-19.

“'Yung tatlo na sinabi natin na from Burkina Faso, from Egypt, and from South Africa, di ba ‘yung Burkina Faso positive po siya sa Delta. ‘Yung sa Egypt po walang lineage na assigned. Ibig sabihin wala po tayong variant na nakita,” she said.

(The three from Burkina Faso, Egypt, and South Africa. The one from Burkina Faso tested positive for Delta, the one from Egypt has no lineage assigned.)—AOL, GMA News