Philippine COVID-19 daily cases projected to hit 4,114 by January 15 — DOH

The COVID-19 daily cases in the country are projected to reach 4,114 by January 15 due to the expected increase in mobility during the holiday season, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

The DOH said severe and critical admissions are also expected to reach 2,252 admissions by mid-January.

“However, we reiterate that there are many factors or measures to consider as to whether an area’s increase in COVID-19 cases and projections may or may not happen. This means metrics such as transmission rate, contact rate, and longer durations of infectiousness are not sole drivers of transmission,” the DOH said in a statement.

The Health Department, meanwhile, said COVID-19 cases are at “plateau” with 973 daily cases for the week of December 16 to 22, adding that this is 5% lower than the reported last week.

It also recorded a 21.73% utilization rate of total available COVID-19 beds, while severe and critical admissions made up 10.57% of total COVID-19 related admissions, including those in the emergency room as of December 21.

“Given this, it is important that local governments continue their vaccination efforts to increase booster dose coverage in the country, especially for the vulnerable population, in order to protect them from the severe and critical effects brought about by the disease,” the DOH said.

The DOH earlier said it has detected four cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7 in the country.

It, however, said the BF.7 is currently being reported under Omicron subvariant BA.5.

The agency further said current evidence does not suggest any difference in severity or clinical manifestations between the BF.7 and the original Omicron variant.

The Philippines on Thursday recorded 1,031 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the cumulative tally to 4,059,369. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News