The Department of Health on Tuesday said it is preparing for the possible spike in the number of Covid-19 cases following the detection of the Omicron subvariant JN.1 in the country.

In a television interview, DoH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the JN.1 subvariant — which has already been reported in more than 40 countries — was believed to be driving Covid-19 infections in other countries, particularly in the United States.

"We are bracing for a similar situation and we hope not that people have heeded our advice that mask is a protection but it's not a guarantee because we have to have other different layers of protection," Tayag said.

The department, over the weekend, reported the first 18 cases of JN.1 subvariant detected in the country.

It noted that all the 18 cases had already recovered.

According to Tayag, the surge in Covid-19 cases could also be attributed to the increased public mobility throughout the holiday season.

In a separate interview, infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante warned that Covid-19 vaccines received by the public will not stand against the JN.1 subvariant.

"It is highly transmissible and it's causing a lot of new cases now. Our vaccines will not work anymore and that's why it's expected that even if you are vaccinated you're expected to get the infection because it's a really totally new because of its more mutations," Solante said.

He, however, said that there is no need to panic over the JN.1 subvariant as it only causes a mild type of Covid-19.

The World Health Organization tagged JN.1 as a variant of interest due to its "rapidly increasing spread."