Philippines logs 237 new COVID-19 cases, including 2 Omicron variants

MANILA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) — Another 237 cases of coronavirus infections have been reported in the Philippines, taking the total to 2,836,915, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 100 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country’s death toll to 50,449, the health department said.

On Wednesday, the Philippines detected its first two Omicron variant cases in a 37-year-old male foreigner from Nigeria and a 48-year-old Filipino male from Japan who arrived on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, respectively.

Both are asymptomatic and in a quarantine facility, it said.

“At present, active case finding and contact tracing are being conducted to determine the health condition of co-passengers of the confirmed cases,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles said the government is closely monitoring the “developments” of the two Omicron cases.

The Philippines reported fewer than 500 daily cases since Dec. 10 and fewer than 1,000 since Nov. 24, with the highest one day tally recorded on Sept. 11 at 26,303 cases.

More than 23 million people out of a total population of around 110 million have been tested since the coronavirus outbreak.

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