DAVAO CITY - With the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the country, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there is a need to ramp up vaccination efforts, especially for young people.
“We will have to conduct again, especially for young people, we’ll have to conduct again a vaccination push para mabawasan na ‘yan, especially with people being a little bit, shall we say, nahihirapan na nga eh dahil sa init, that brings down…humihina ang katawan and that will make them more vulnerable to Covid again,” Marcos said.
But he was quick to allay fears about the rising numbers of new Covid-19 cases and expressed confidence that government instrumentalities will be able to manage the issue immediately.
“We might have to think about it…ako ang tinitingnan ko is because although ‘yung rate of increase lumalaki, ang baseline natin na sinimulan eh maliit lang so hopefully we’re still ano… we’re still going to be able to do it,” Marcos said.
Department of Health (DOH) Officer-in-charge Dr Maria Rosario Vergeire said the spike in the positivity rate is due to several factors, which include the mobility of the population on holidays as well as the number of people taking Covid-19 test.
From January 2020 to April 2023, there have been 4,087,964 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country with 66,444 deaths. As of March 8, a total of 170,690,206 vaccine doses have been administered, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The world health body is also keeping an eye on a new Covid-19 variant - the omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, known as “Arcturus,” has been listed by the WHO as a variant under monitoring since March 22.
This was also reported by Mayo Clinic which quoted experts as saying that this variant has a higher transmissibility rate than previous strains but doesn't appear to be more dangerous.
“It is causing increasing case counts in certain parts of the world, including India. We're not seeing high rates of XBB.1.16 yet in the United States, but it may become more prominent in coming weeks,” said Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.
He said experts are seeing new symptoms with the new variant. “One new feature of cases caused by this variant is that it seems to be causing conjunctivitis, or red and itchy eyes, in young patients. This is not something that we've seen with prior strains of the virus,” Binnicker said.
Respiratory rates declining
Binnicker said respiratory viruses, including Covid-19 infections, influenza, and RSV have declined in the U.S. in recent weeks. “The case counts of respiratory infections have begun to drop as we're entering into the spring months in the Northern Hemisphere with warmer temperatures and people getting outdoors,” he said. “Respiratory viruses, like SARS-CoV-2, tend to decline in the spring and summer months, and that is what we're seeing in most parts of the U.S. right now.”
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, keeps emerging because the virus mutates and copies itself as it spreads from person to person, creating new variants.
“New variants come and go. We're seeing increased transmission rates, so higher levels of infectivity with recent COVID-19 variants, but in general, they tend to be causing less severe disease in individuals, which is good news,” Binnicker explained. “This is likely due to a combination of factors, including higher vaccination rates, higher rates of immunity from prior infection, and lower pathogenicity of recent variants.”
Although Covid-19 rates in the U.S. are relatively low, health experts recommend people remain vigilant in using these preventive measures: Wash your hands frequently, avoid close contact with people who are sick, and stay home if you feel sick or have any symptoms of Covid-19. (Mindanao Examiner)
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