140 more BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases detected in Philippines — DOH

The Philippines has detected 140 additional cases of COVID-19’s Omicron subvariant BA.5 from various regions, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

At the DOH briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 99 cases came from Western Visayas, 21 were from the National Capital Region (NCR), seven from Calabarzon, and five from the Ilocos Region.

One BA.5 case each was also identified in Central Luzon, the Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Mimaropa, and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

One returning overseas Filipino (ROF) also tested positive for the said Omicron subvariant.

According to the DOH, 97 of these BA.5 cases were in addition to the 43 cases initially reported on Tuesday.

The new BA.5 cases, along with other new cases of Omicron subvariants BA2.12.1 and BA.4, were detected in the latest sequencing results from June 29 to July 4.

Vergeire said the total number of BA.5 cases in the country is now 233.

Of these cases, 129 are now tagged as recovered, four are still under isolation, while the rest are still being identified.

Of the new BA.5 cases, 16 individuals were fully vaccinated, three were unvaccinated, while vaccination status of the remaining 121 cases are still being verified by authorities.

Thirteen of these fresh cases showed mild symptoms, two were asymptomatic, while the symptoms of the 125 individuals are still being determined.

“Sa kasalukuyan, hindi pa natutukoy ang exposure ng mga individuals at inaalam pa rin po ang travel history ng mga ito,” Vergeire said.

(Currently, the exposure of the individuals has not been determined and their travel history is still being identified.)

BA.2.12.1

Vergeire said there were 20 more BA.2.12.1 cases recorded in the country, with almost all of them, or 17 infected individuals, having recovered.

Of the new cases, five individuals came from NCR, four each from Western Visayas and Calabarzon, and two from CAR.

There was one case from the Ilocos Region and four ROFs also tested positive for BA.2.12.1.

The DOH said the total number of BA.2.12.1 cases in the country is now 70.

Of these cases, nine were fully vaccinated, one was unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of others are still being verified.

Nine of them presented mild symptoms, while the symptoms of the 11 others are still unknown.

BA.4

There were also seven additional cases of BA.4 cases detected in the country and all of them have recovered, according to DOH.

Six of these cases were from the Bicol Region and one came from NCR.

The DOH said all of these seven individuals have recovered. Three of them posed mild symptoms, three were asymptomatic, while the remaining case is unidentified.

The BA.4 and BA.5 were added to the World Health Organization's monitoring list in March and designated as variants of concern by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Meanwhile, the BA.2.12.1 was also flagged by the United States Center for Disease Control due to the observed increasing cases in the United States.

Amid the increasing COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, Vergeire underscored the importance of the continued compliance with the minimum public health standards and receiving the primary vaccine series and booster shots. — with Richa Noriega/RSJ/VBL, GMA News