Webinar #95 "ARE THERE MORE CONTAGIOUS VARIANTS LIKE OMICRON XE?
Channel: TVUP
Date: 2022-04-07

The University of the Philippines in partnership with
UP Manila NIH National Telehealth Center and in cooperation with
UP Philippine General Hospital would like to invite you to join the Fight Against COVID-19!


Webinar #95 "ARE THERE MORE CONTAGIOUS VARIANTS LIKE OMICRON XE?  Alamin kung magkaka-COVID-19 surge ulit”
April 8, 2022 (Friday) 12nn


Presenters:
Dr. John Q. Wong
Epidemiologist
Senior Technical Advisor, EpiMetrics, Inc.

Dr. Cynthia P. Saloma
Executive Director
Philippine Genome Center

Opening Remarks:
Dr. Eva Marie Cutiongco- de la Paz
National Institutes of Health
University of the Philippines Manila

Synthesis and Closing Remarks:
Dr. Carmencita D. Padilla
Chancellor
University of the Philippines Manila

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Webinar #95 "ARE THERE MORE CONTAGIOUS VARIANTS LIKE OMICRON XE?
Alamin kung magkaka-COVID-19 surge ulit”

There is a general sense of relief and an anticipation that we are at the tail-end of the pandemic. And yet as we enjoy new freedoms in the Philippines -- we hear of spikes, lockdowns, and rising cases in neighboring parts of the Region. What is the variant spreading in China - resulting in the lockdown of 25 million people in Shanghai City? What variant is increasing cases in South Korea? A few days ago, WHO announced it was closely monitoring Omicron XE, a subvariant and hybrid from two different types of sub-variants, that could emerge to be a more transmissible variant than the recent variant of Omicron BA.2.  Is it possible that there are new emerging variants that are more contagious than Omicron?


Vaccination has had a significant positive impact on reducing disease transmission.  But the lingering concern is whether or not we can sustain a low transmission status given the possibility of "super-spreader" events with the coming Holy Week and campaign events for the Elections.  Of course, there are also concerns that the new variants may be resistant to vaccines.

In this week’s webinar of STOP COVID DEATHS, we bring you one of the leading epidemiologists in the country, Dr. John Q. Wong of EpiMetrics, Inc., who will walk us through trends in the Philippines and provide global updates.  The second speaker is Dr. Cynthia P. Saloma of the Philippine Genome Center, who will discuss how genome sequencing will be a key strategy for monitoring.  The webinar will be opened by Dr. Eva Marie Cutiongco-dela Paz, Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila, while the Synthesis and Closing Remarks will be delivered by Dr. Carmencita D. Padilla, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Manila.

Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Stay Connected. 
Together, we can STOP COVID DEATHS!