Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 10) — Metro Manila could see up to nine times more COVID-19 cases if the variant first found in United Kingdom becomes a dominant variant in the country, an epidemiologist warned on Wednesday.
“If the UK variant becomes the dominant strain, meaning it accounts for more than 50 percent of cases, we can have nine times more cases after a month. So we have to take precautions to avoid this,” Dr. John Wong said in a media briefing.
Wong, who is a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force Technical Working Group on data analytics, said the UK variant also called B.1.1.7 is more likely part of the ongoing surge of cases in Metro Manila, add to that the non-compliance of some Filipinos to the minimum public health standards. He said the UK variant is more transmissible while the South Africa variant affects the efficacy of vaccines
“UK variant increases transmissibility. So maybe part ng [part of the] surge that we are experiencing now is due to the UK variant,” he said.
The independent group OCTA Research last week said the ongoing increase in cases in parts of Metro Manila is showing signs of a “variant-driven surge.” They projected that Metro Manila may see up to 3,000 daily cases and there may be up to 6,000 new infections nationwide by end of March as the rate of increase in the country’s cases continues to pick up.
