The World Health Organization is bracing for a global spike in new COVID-19 cases due to the colder weather that would push more activities indoors.
“This is to be expected as the weather cools and people spend more time together inside, and most countries no longer have measures in place to limit the spread of the virus,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
“We expect reported cases of COVID-19 to increase. But the deaths don’t have to, given we have vaccines and therapeutics that can save lives,” he added.
He said Omicron is still behind the majority of infections even as scientists are still tracking over 300 subvariants.
“We continue to call on all countries to increase surveillance, testing, and sequencing, and to ensure the most at-risk groups are vaccinated,” the WHO official said.
Earlier, the OCTA Research Group warned the Philippines may record up to 4,000 daily cases in October.
“As we mentioned, it’s the ‘ber’ months now. We may see an increase in cases, but it may reach up to 2,000 per day in Metro Manila or so and maybe 4,000 nationwide like we see in the past few days. Hopefully, cases subside soon,” OCTA Research Fellow Guido David said.
Another expert, Dr. Jomar Rabajante of the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team, said the country’s COVID-19 cases may hover around 2,000 daily until the end of the year.
David called on the public not to be complacent and to continue wearing face masks to protect themselves.
“Although a face mask is optional, it doesn’t mean it’s not required.
In areas where we are seeing an uptick in cases, we highly recommend the public to practice caution and add areas of protection,” he said.