By Robina Asido

The Department of Health (DOH) announced Monday night that the Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said based on the recent genome sequencing results, 60 percent of the samples are Omicron variants.

"Based on the last whole genome sequencing, 60 percent of the samples sequenced are positive for Omicron variant so it is now the dominant variant. Where before it was the Delta , so 60 percent of all the sequence that runs are Omicron," he said during the Talk To The People with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night.

However, Duque said while COVID-19 cases in the country continue to increase, the number of severe and critical cases are much lower compared to last year's surge caused by the Delta variant.

"The recorded number of severe and critical cases is lower compared to during the surge last September 22, 2022 because of the Delta variant," he said.

As the Omicron variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, Duque encouraged local government units to strictly implement the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Rehabilitation (PDITR) Strategies for COVID-19 to prevent community transmission.

"We encourage our LGUs to strengthen our PDITR strategies and implement the granular lockdowns in the community with case clustering and our usual case finding is very important, the isolation, testing and contact tracing to prevent transmission within communities," he said.

"We reminded the public what we should do now that we again see an increase in COVID-19 cases. Get vaccinated with primary series or booster as soon as possible especially the senior citizen, persons with comorbidities, the minors' and maintain the use of face mask, physical distancing, face masks within 3Cs or the close areas, crowded areas and close contact," he added.

Duque also remind the people to immediately isolate themselves if they experience symptoms, alert the barangay health emergency response teams and undergo testing to prevent further spread of the virus. DMS