MANILA - The new omicron variants may cause a surge of 5,000 to 10,000 new cases daily if these reach the Philippines, OCTA Research said Wednesday.

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The BA.4 and BA.5 caused a surge in South Africa while the BA.2.12 is behind the increase in cases New Delhi, and the BA.2.12.1 comprised 90 percent of cases in the US, according to Guido David.

"We might see 5,000 to 10,000 cases per day but nowhere near the 40,000 cases we saw back in January but of course, that is still subject to change because we're still monitoring the trends in India and US," he told ANC's Headstart.

"We have to remind our kababayans that this will probably be mild for vaccinated people but this might not be mild for unvaccinated people or those with comorbidities."

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Several factors such as the more transmissible variants, decreased compliance with minimum health standards, waning immunity, and mass gatherings due to the upcoming elections may lead to the rise in cases, according to David.

Government might not need to raise a higher alert level if the country tallies only 5,000 daily average cases, David said. This is why the public is urged to get vaccinated and boosted, he added.

"Because of the transmissibility of the virus, we have to vaccinate as many people as possible. We can't really rely on herd immunity. This immunity we attain is not permanent so we have o get vaccinated again," he said.

Some 12.7 million people have received a booster shot, while 37.5 million more are eligible to receive it as of Thursday, according to the Department of Health. There are a total of 67 million people with primary doses.