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Philippines logs 889 new COVID-19 cases, highest in a month amid omicron threat

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Visitors flock to the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City on Christmas Day, Saturday. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/12/29/20211225-covid19-christmas-day-s0201458-02-md.jpg"/><figcaption>Visitors flock to the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City on Christmas Day, Saturday. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><h3> DOH cites increased holiday mobility, not omicron, amid spike in new infections</h3><p>MANILA (UPDATE)— The Philippines on Wednesday confirmed 889 additional COVID-19 cases, the highest in over a month, with the health ministry attributing the spike to increased movement due to the holidays.</p><p>The daily tally is considered the highest since Nov. 27, according to ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido. </p><p>Positivity rate is at 4.5 percent, based on test results of samples received from 27,615 individuals on Monday. </p><p>Guido said the positivity rate is the highest since Nov. 10. He observed the rise in the past week, from a 1.1 positivity rate on Dec. 21.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/27/21/ph-urged-to-avoid-lockdowns-despite-omicron">Philippines urged to avoid lockdowns despite omicron</a></li></ul><p>Of the 2,839,790 total recorded cases in the country, 10,418 or 0.4 percent are active, which, according to Guido, is the highest since Dec. 14.</p><p>Of those still infected with the virus, 374 are in critical condition while 1,778 are severely ill.</p><p>Intensive care unit bed utilization in Metro Manila is at 23 percent, while it is 20 percent across the country, the DOH said in its latest COVID bulletin.</p><p>Ventilators in the capital region are 14 percent used up, and 12 percent nationwide.</p><p>Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters that the spike in new cases was due to the &quot;holiday-related mobility&quot; and the &quot;reduced&quot; compliance of the public with the minimum health protocols.</p><p>&quot;We are continuously monitoring the situation, though we cannot still be certain that the increase in cases is due to the Omicron Variant,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;We are calling on the public and the LGUs to ensure safety protocols are implemented and every Filipino is vaccinated.&quot;</p><p>Meanwhile, there were also 28 more deaths due to the respiratory disease, raising the total number of fatalities to 51,241. </p><p>Twenty-five of the day&#x27;s newly announced fatalities were first classified as recoveries, the DOH said. </p><p>Recoveries increased by 214 to 2,778,131.</p><p>Three laboratories failed to submit data, two of which were not operational. </p><p>Independent research group OCTA this week said the uptick in COVID-19 cases could not be attributed yet to the impact of the omicron variant, four cases of which have so far been detected in the country.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/28/21/galvez-ph-may-stay-under-alert-level-2-in-january">PH &#x27;most likely&#x27; to stay under Alert Level 2 in January amid rise in COVID cases: Galvez</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/12/27/21/octa-sees-rise-in-covid-19-cases-in-ncr">OCTA Research Group sees uptick in COVID-19 cases in NCR</a></li></ul><p>Omicron is behind rapid virus spikes in several countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previously dominant delta variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/29/21/omicron-risk-remains-very-high-who">Omicron risk remains ‘very high’, says WHO, as COVID cases spike</a></li></ul><p>Studies have shown that the omicron variant is more transmissible than the delta variant, which stretched the country&#x27;s health care capacity last August.</p><p>Its severity, however, is still being studied. </p><p>The WHO said early data from Britain, South Africa and Denmark — which currently has the world&#x27;s highest rate of infection per person —suggested there was a reduced risk of hospitalization for omicron compared to delta.</p><p>Philippine vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. this week said that in case of a surge in new coronavirus infections due to omicron, granular lockdowns would be implemented. </p><p>The country races against time to fully vaccinate at least 54 million of its target population by this year, amid the emergence of the said variant of concern. </p><p>As of Tuesday, Philippine authorities were able to fully immunize 63 percent of its target 77.1 million individuals. The country&#x27;s inoculation rollout started on March 1. </p><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong> WATCH</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=1874624" 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>

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the spike in new cases was due to the 'holiday-related mobility' and the 'reduced' compliance of the public with the minimum health protocols.

Philippines logs 889 new COVID-19 cases, highest in a month amid omicron threat

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Philippines logs 889 new COVID-19 cases, highest in a month amid omicron threat

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 29, 2021 04:14 PM PHT

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Updated Dec 29, 2021 05:25 PM PHT

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