Philippines posts highest COVID positivity rate

THE PHILIPPINES on Thursday reported its highest positivity rate for the coronavirus at 36.9%, as the highly mutated Omicron variant continued to spread in communities.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 17,220 infections — the highest in more than three months — bringing the total to 2.89 million. The death toll hit 51, 743 after 81 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 616 to 2.78 million, it said in a bulletin

There were 56,561 active cases, 1,837 of which did not show symptoms, 49,988 were mild, 2,954 were moderate, 1,470 were severe and 312 were critical.

The positivity rate was based on test results of samples from 59,847 people on Jan. 4.

In a separate statement, Health authorities reported 29 more coronavirus infections involving the Omicron variant, bringing the total to 43.

The latest Omicron cases involved 10 returning Filipinos from overseas and 19 residents of Metro Manila, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement. Of the 19 local cases, 14 still had the virus, three have recovered and two were still being verified.

DoH said it was verifying the test results of co-passengers of the 10 migrant workers. The new variant cases were detected from 48 samples sequenced on Jan. 2.

It also detected 18 more Delta variant cases, 10 in local residents and eight in returning migrant workers. This brought the total Delta cases to 8,497.

The agency said 99% of coronavirus cases occurred from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6. The top regions with cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 11,563 infections, Calabarzon with 3,165 and Central Luzon with 1,126.

It added that 7% of the reported deaths occurred this month, 7% in December, 10% in November and 23% in October.

DoH said 48 cases had been removed from the tally, with 46 reclassified as recoveries. It added that 66 cases previously tagged as recoveries had been relisted as deaths. Eleven laboratories failed to submit data.

The agency said 31% of intensive care units in the Philippines were occupied, while the rate for Metro Manila was 43%.

The COVID-19 Omicron variant — first detected in South Africa and Botswana in November — has surged globally, spurring fresh lockdowns in many countries.

The US and Europe have been rolling out booster shots as fast as they can after research findings by Pfizer, Inc. and Moderna, Inc. that Omicron weakens the effectiveness of their standard two doses. Booster shots are supposed to increase the level of protection against the variant.

Still, infections in both regions have soared, with the US reporting more than a million daily COVID cases on Jan. 3. The UK and France have recently reported more than 200,000 daily infections.

More people in affected countries have been hospitalized, though deaths have been far below previous peaks.

DoH urged Filipinos particularly the elderly, seriously ill people and children to get vaccinated and get their additional doses immediately.

“Vaccines are still our best defense and proven to be safe, effective, and free,” it said. “Let’s not be agents of transmission and prevent further spread of the virus as more transmission means more mutations.”

People should isolate themselves and get tested at the earliest signs of symptoms, the agency said. “Let us maximize our telemedicine services and keep our hospitals from filling-up.”

People infected with the Omicron variant appear to show milder symptoms, though it appeared to be more contagious than the Delta variant, said Edsel Maurice T. Salvana, a member of the DoH technical advisory group.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated 50.6 million people, while 57.25 million others have received their first dose.

The coronavirus has sickened 298.3 million and killed 5.48 million people globally, according to the Worldometer website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

Almost 257 million people have recovered, it said.

The US topped the list with 58.81 million infections and 853,612 deaths, followed by India with 35.1 million cases and 482,876 deaths, Brazil with 22.35 million infections and 619,559 deaths and the UK with 13.84 million cases and 149,284 deaths. — Norman P. Aquino and Alyssa Nicole O. Tan