As many people are getting sick because of the cold weather and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the government advised the public who experience flu symptoms to isolate themselves immediately.

"Just to remind, if you feel symptoms or are symptomatic, the best thing to do is isolate immediately. Isolate immediately, let’s assume that it’s COVID," Acting Presidential Spokesman Karlo Nograles said during his virtual Palace briefing on Wednesday.

"Let's listen to our health experts. If you’re symptomatic, if you feel symptoms, isolate immediately and then try to get a test. Then we’ll work hard to get you tested immediately so that we can confirm whether or not it’s Omicron," he added.

In the same briefing, Edsel Salvaña, an infectious diseases expert and a member of DOH Technical Advisory Group, explained that if it is difficult to get tested because of long lines, vaccinated individuals who have COVID-19 symptoms can just isolate themselves to avoid exposing other people.

"The most important thing that you can do when you are symptomatic, especially if you only have mild symptoms and you are fully vaccinated, since you have low risk to have severe symptoms, is really to stay put and not infect anybody else; home isolate," he said.

"So if you are having difficulty getting a test or because of long lines, the other option, if you only have mild symptoms is to do telemedicine, try to get tested at home so that you don’t expose anybody. And if you really can’t get a test but you have symptoms, just isolate for ten days," Salvaña said.

"We’ll do our best to really test, but the numbers are really staggering right now. Even the US is having huge backlogs among their states because so many people have symptoms," he added. Robina Asido/DMS