79 more Omicron subvariant cases detected in Philippines

The Philippines has detected at least 79 additional cases of COVID-19’s Omicron subvariants BA.5, BA.2.12.1, and BA.4 from various regions, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

At the DOH briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that of these fresh cases logged from July 7 to 11, 60 were BA.5, 17 were BA.2.12.1, and two were BA.4.

Of the new BA.5 infections, 58 individuals were from Western Visayas, and one each from the Davao Region and Soccsksargen.

This brought the total number of detected BA.5 cases in the country to 293, according to Vergeire.

DOH said that 43 of these new BA.5 cases are now tagged as recovered, 14 are still undergoing isolation, while the situation of the remaining three is still being verified.

One of them presented mild symptoms while the disease severity of the 59 others are being determined.

One individual was also unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of others are still being determined. Their exposure to the virus and travel histories are also still unknown.

BA.2.12.1

Vergeire also said that six of the 17 new BA.2.12.1 cases were from Western Visayas, ten from Davao Region, while one was a returning overseas Filipino (ROF).

There are now 87 total cases of BA.2.12.1 detected in the country, she added.

Fifteen of them are now considered as recovered while the two others are still under isolation.

Two of them presented mild symptoms, one had severe symptoms, one was asymptomatic, while the condition of the remaining 13 are being verified.

Their exposure to the virus and travel histories are also being determined.

BA.4

Further, one individual each from the Davao Region and Soccsksargen also tested positive for the Omicron BA.4 subvariant.

This brought the total number of BA.4 cases in the country to 12, based on the latest genome sequencing run.

Vergeire said that both cases presented mild symptoms and are now tagged as recovered.

One of them was fully vaccinated while the other person was unvaccinated. Their exposure to the virus and travel histories are, however, still unknown.

Both the BA.4 and BA.5, sister variants of the original BA.1 Omicron variant, 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.

Vergeire earlier said that the BA.5 and the BA.4 subvariants do not cause critical or severe infection and they almost share the same characteristics.

The DOH also said that these subvariants should “not be any cause of concern.”

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.

Vergeire said that the BA.2.12.1 and the BA.2.12 may be “more transmissible than the original Omicron variant” and may possibly have an immune escape based on studies.

On Monday, the Philippines recorded 1,660 new COVID-19 infections which brought the country’s active caseload to 14,218. —AOL/RSJ, GMA News