Public Urged to Opt for Virtual Holiday Parties Than Physical Amid Omicron Variant Risk

The public is highly advised to opt for virtual holiday parties instead of holding physical ones this December and to remain vigilant even as the new Omicron variant has still not been detected in the country.

This comes as Philippine Genome Center (PGC) executive director Cynthia Saloma in a Laging Handa briefing on Saturday warned the public of what might possibly happen should the public relax amid the holiday season as the director talked about detected COVID-19 cases in Norway shooting up after a a party–30 of which are Omicron variants.

“At kung makita ninyo po iyong cases sa Norway ‘di ba mayroon silang malaking party na nagkaroon ng maraming positive cases (If you will see cases in Norway, there was a party in which there were a lot of positive cases detected after) – 30 of whom have been confirmed to be Omicron variant. Kaya siguro po, mas maganda po ngayong taon mag-virtual Christmas party po muna tayo kung puwede (That is why it will be better for us to hold virtual Christmas parties for this year),” Saloma said.

No Omicron yet

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire believes that the Omicron variant has not yet entered the country as the Department of Health (DOH) has not detected a sudden increase in cases so far.

However, DOH noted that there are at least 253 individuals who came from South Africa and traveled to the Philippines–165 of whom are under verification process, while 72 are currently in quarantine facilities.

The remaining 8 have yet to be located.

It was in South Africa that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was first detected. (GFB)