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MANILA — People who have symptoms of COVID-19 should presume they are already infected with the coronavirus, regardless of their severity, a pediatric infectious disease expert said on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Ana Ong-Lim, people with flu, cough, colds, or sore throat should think of isolating themselves already and "assume its COVID unless proven otherwise."

"Kung tayo ay nagpaplano, it has to be planning for the worst case scenario. Siyempre alam naman natin, kailangan pag-ingatan ang COVID. So kung may nasisimulan na tayo maramdaman, ang pinakamahalagang dapat gawin is bumukod, mag-isolate," she said in an interview with ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

"That's the first thing anybody should do, and planuhin ang pagpapa-test."

The Philippines earlier Wednesday posted 10,775 new COVID-19 cases, nearly double from the previous day as the Omicron variant has presumably spread in communities.

The positivity rate was at a record-high 31.7 percent, based on test results of samples from 44,643 individuals on Jan. 3, Monday, according to data from the Department of Health.

• Philippines posts 10,775 new COVID cases, nearly double from previous day

Ong-Lim said that even though there is still no confirmed evidence of community transmission of Omicron in the country, it is "unlikely" the highly-contagious variant is not behind the new surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

"Base sa nakikita nating numbers, halos araw-araw dumudoble. Malabong hindi ito Omicron. So we have to assume, worst case scenario Omicron ito," she said.

The OCTA research group warned on Wednesday that the Philippines might report around 20,000 new COVID-19 cases daily next week.

• Philippines may log 20,000 COVID-19 cases daily by next week: OCTA

The DOH is also projecting that the new wave of rising COVID-19 cases observed now in the country will peak by the end of the month, its spokesperson said.