MANILA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines on Friday confirmed the first three local cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and warned of its possible "exponential" spread.
The Philippines on Friday confirmed the first three local cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo: AFP)
The Department of Health (DOH) detected three local Omicron variant cases, one in Metro Manila and two in the Bicol Region, southeast of Metro Manila.
"The epidemiological investigation on the three local cases indicates there is a high possibility of local transmission," the DOH said in a statement, adding that all the three have recovered.
Aside from the three local cases, the DOH also confirmed seven more Omicron cases from inbound travelers.
With the detection of the local Omicron cases, the DOH warned of a "high probability of exponential growth" of COVID-19 infections "in the coming days or weeks."
Meanwhile, the Philippine government announced it is raising the COVID-19 alert level to three on a scale of five starting from Jan. 3 till Jan. 15.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the alert status bans "high-risk" activities that can fuel virus transmission, such as gathering of people from different houses.
The DOH reported 2,961 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,843,979.
The Philippines is experiencing a new spike in COVID-19 infections that authorities attribute to poor compliance with public health guidelines and an increase in mobility of people amid the holiday season.
