OCTA Research said around 5,000-10,000 daily COVID-19 cases may be recorded in the next few weeks due to the two new Omicron subvariants that managed to enter the country.
Dr. Guido David, fellow of OCTA Research, said the two-week observation period is over for the possible surge of COVID-19 cases in the country since the May 9 national and local elections is over.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, David said there was no surge that happened due to the elections.
Instead, they are monitoring the movement of the two new Omicron subvariants that are in the country, the BA.2.12.1 and BA.4.
If there will be a surge, David said they estimate it at a high of about 5,000 but will not exceed 10,000 new cases daily.
According to David, the country still has a strong wall of immunity but they are not discounting the possibility of a breakthrough infection, or those cases that were already vaccinated and boosted but still contracted COVID-19 due to the new Omicron subvariants.
At present, there are only a few cases of BA.2.12.1 at 17 and only one for BA.4 but David said they cannot tell yet if the numbers would remain at this level or would increase in the next week.
That is why David emphasized the importance of a second booster not just as added protection but also another layer of protection against the so-called “long COVID” or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms for an extended period of time even if a patient has already recovered from the disease.