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Omicron likely causing spike in COVID-19 infections: OCTA

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Jasmin Romero, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Motorcycle riders from different delivery and ride-hailing apps line up for the booster shot vaccination at the Kartilya ng Katipunan beside the Manila City Hall on January 6, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/01/09/01092022-covid-booster-riders.jpg"/><figcaption>Motorcycle riders from different delivery and ride-hailing apps line up for the booster shot vaccination at the Kartilya ng Katipunan beside the Manila City Hall on January 6, 2022. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - The sharp rise in COVID cases in the country is “most likely” due to the Omicron variant, according to an independent research group.</p><p>OCTA Research Fellow Guido David said this was evident in the genome sequencing data.</p><p>“Sa latest genome sequencing na isinagawa ng Philippine Genome Center.. 60 percent ng mga sample test nila ay omicron, as of Jan 2. <br/>Most likely ngayon mas marami na,” Guido said.</p><p>(In the latest genome sequencing by the Philippine Genome Center, 60 percent of their samples tested were omicron as of Jan. 2. Most likely this number has risen further.)</p><p>Guido added that international travelers who broke quarantine may have caused the local spread.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/08/22/expert-omicron-variant-may-already-be-locally-transmitted">Expert cites possible community transmission of COVID-19 omicron variant in PH</a></li></ul><p>While there is no guarantee how the virus would pan out, David said he hopes that the omicron variant would be the last, and the Philippines would experience a 1- 1.5 month surge just like in South Africa.</p><p>On Sunday, an additional 2.7 million doses of Pfizer&#x27;s COVID-19 vaccine arrived from the COVAX Facility donated by the US government, raising the total number of delivered COVD-19 vaccines to 213.4 million.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/09/22/ph-gets-27m-more-doses-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine">Philippines receives additional 2.7 million doses of Pfizer&#x27;s COVID-19 vaccine</a></li></ul><div><strong>ALERT LEVEL 4?</strong></div><p>David meanwhile said he believes that while raising Alert Level 4 can help curb the infection rate, there is no guarantee that it could work.</p><p>“Ang sabi nga sa ibang bansa, sa UK parang inevitable na ito eh. Karamihan ng tao mahahawaan dahil sa sobrang bilis ng pagkalat ng virus. </p><p>(What was said in other countries, in the UK, this was likely inevitable. Most people will get infected because of the speed of transmission of the virus.)</p><p>Instead, he said there must be a “paradigm shift” with the way government views lockdowns, according to David since unlike before— more people are vaccinated now, and there are more vaccines.</p><p>Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Diño meanwhile said he does not favor raising the alert level.</p><p>“Tama lang ang sinasabi ng presidente na paandarin ang ekonomya pero i-maximize ang pagpapabakuna, nakita natin na ito ang effective. At ang mga bakuna may expiration yan,” Diño said, urging those who are unvaccinated to get jabbed.</p><p>(What the President said is correct, that we keep the economy open but maximize the vaccination. We have seen that this is effective. And vaccines have an expiration date.)</p><p>Guido meanwhile said omicron must not be taken lightly as it can still strain the healthcare system. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1882151" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The sharp rise in COVID cases in the country is most likely due to the Omicron variant, according to an independent research group.

Omicron likely causing spike in COVID-19 infections: OCTA

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Omicron likely causing spike in COVID-19 infections: OCTA

Jasmin Romero,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 09, 2022 07:19 PM PHT

Read More:

Omicron

OCTA

COVID-19 spike

Guido David

Philippine Genome Center

genome sequencing

pandemic

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