DOH detects 613 new Omicron subvariant cases
MANILA — The Philippines has detected 613 new cases of Omicron COVID-19 subvariants, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Based on the agency’s latest bio-surveillance report, 252 were classified as BA.2.3.20, 201 as XBB, 25 as BA.5, 15 as XBC, two as BA.2.75, and 118 as other Omicron sublineages.
Of the BA.5 cases, 18 were classified as BQ.1, the DOH said.
Results of the samples, which were processed by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center, were released on January 28.
According to the DOH, all additional BA.2.3.20 and XBB cases were local cases from all regions except Regions 8, 10 and 11.
Among 25 BA.5 cases detected, 16 were local cases from Regions 2, 3, 4A, 7, 12, Caraga, and Metro Manila, and the remaining nine cases were from returning overseas Filipinos, the report showed.
The 15 additional XBB cases detected were from Regions 9, 12, and Caraga, while the two BA.2.75 cases came from Region 7 and Caraga.
To date, the BA.5 is still the dominant strain in the Philippines, with 12,687 cases, DOH officer-incharge Maria Rosario Vergeire told ANC’s “Headstart.”
It is followed by BA.2.3.20 with 34,173 cases, XBB with 1,170 cases, XBC with 626 cases, and BA.4 with 325 cases.
The total tally also showed 42 BA.2.75 cases, 38 BQ.1 cases, seven BF.7 cases, and seven BN.1 cases.
“Right now, what we are trying to be cautious about would be the XBB1.5, which is circulating in the US... and other countries,” Vergeire said.
Despite the presence of more transmissible subvariants, closing borders is no longer an option in the country’s COVID-19 response, she added.
Three years to the day after the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the highest level of global alert on COVID-19, it said the pandemic remained an international emergency.
WHO directorgeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made that conclusion, following the recommendations of the United Nations health agency’s emergency committee, which held its 14th meeting since the start of the crisis.
The WHO first declared a so-called public health emergency of international concern — its highest possible level of global alert — on January 30, 2020, over what was then called the novel coronavirus.
When it sounded the alarm, fewer than 100 cases and no deaths had been detected outside China.
Since then, more than 752 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the WHO, including more than 6.8 million deaths, though the true numbers are thought to be far higher.