The Department of Health (DOH) reported on January 19 the first two deaths from the omicron , the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus and is believed to be the cause of the surging cases in the country now.
The two cases were both in their 60s, one from NCR and one from Central Luzon, both were unvaccinated and had existing medical conditions, the DOH said.
They were among the nearly 500 new Omicron detected by Philippine Genome Centre (PGC).
“While Omicron mostly present with asymptomatic and mild disease, our data shows that those most at risk for fatalities are still the elderly and those with comorbidities and unvaccinated,” it said in a statement.
“With the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the DOH urges the public to follow protective health protocols and adhere to minimum public health standards,” the DOH said.
