The Department of Health (DOH) said 15 areas in Metro Manila already have cases of the highly transmissible Covid-19 Omicron variant.

DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea de Guzman bared the alarming report during a congressioanl hearing on January 18. She, however, did not identify the locations.

De Guzman said the increase in COVID-19 cases was due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

“Our latest whole genome sequencing showed that the Omicron variant is now the predominant variant in the National Capital Region,” de Guzman said.

She said Omicron has been detected in 13 of 17 regions and in 15 of 17 areas in the National Capital Region.