JN.1 COVID-19 subvariant causing spike in cases

CNN Philippines

An infectious disease expert says the new COVID-19 subvariant is causing a spike in cases. But he turns down calls to make face masks mandatory again.  Page Javier tells us more.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Joanne Grace and her family chose to spend their Christmas morning at a park in Quezon

00:05 City.

00:06 They were not worried being outside despite the rise in COVID-19 cases and detection of

00:11 a new sub-variant.

00:12 "It's just the time of the flu.

00:13 Actually, we just got out of the flu but we got back quickly."

00:21 Joanne Grace says what's important is to remain vigilant.

00:25 Amid the Christmas and New Year celebrations, the health department announced the entry

00:29 of the JN.1 sub-variant into the country.

00:33 The DOH says it detected 18 cases through genome sequencing.

00:38 All of them have recovered.

00:40 Philippine College of Physicians President Dr. Ronjin Solante says it's possible there

00:45 are more cases that have not been detected yet.

00:48 "It is highly transmissible and it's really causing a lot of the new cases now.

00:54 Our vaccines will not work anymore and that's why it's expected that even if you are vaccinated,

01:00 you're expected to get the infection because it's really totally new because of its more

01:06 mutations."

01:07 The World Health Organization tagged JN.1 as a variant of interest as it needs to be

01:13 closely monitored and studied.

01:15 Cases of the sub-variant have been identified in the US, China and other countries.

01:20 The WHO also said the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is low.

01:26 "I don't think it's something that we have to panic at this point in time because

01:31 being causing only a mild type of COVID, unlike the Delta, the Alpha."

01:38 Public health advocate Dr. Tony Leachon urged government to bring back the face mask mandate

01:43 for two weeks.

01:44 He said there is also a need to monitor cases in hospitals and the positivity rate are number

01:50 of people testing positive.

01:53 But Dr. Solante does not see the need to require the wearing of face masks again.

01:58 He says senior citizens, those with comorbidities and symptoms are the ones who need to mask

02:04 up.

02:05 Health Secretary Dr. Ted Herbosa earlier said the public should not be worried over the

02:10 minimal rise in COVID-19 cases.

02:13 He advised Filipinos to also be on the lookout for other viruses and sicknesses amid the

02:18 season for influenza-like illnesses.

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