Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – Amid its alarming projections in surging infections next month, the OCTA Research Group told reporters anew that new Omicron subvariants are projected to be “unlikely” to cause a major outbreak in the country.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David told national media that their projections may suggest that it is not very likely for Omicron’s new strains to “pose a major threat of an outbreak” once it enters the Philippines.
David said in a TV interview, “Based on the data that we are seeing, the presentation is not that much different from Omicron and the characteristics are not that much different, which means that the cases will most likely be mild. That’s why we are not super concerned that this will trigger a, you know, major threat of an outbreak.”
The OCTA fellow emphasized that infections are expected to be “mild” for the vaccinated, however, it may “not be as mild” for unvaccinated individuals and the immunocompromised.
The independent research group has also underscored that new strains of Omicron is also not seen to overwhelm the country’s hospital occupancy rate like the onslaught of the deadly and transmissible Delta surge in August of 2021.
Earlier this week, the Department of Health has logged 11,580 active COVID-19 infections nationwide. TNF