Philippines detects 890 more Omicron BA.5 cases

The Philippines has detected nearly 900 additional cases of the Omicron subvariant BA.5 of the coronavirus in almost all regions, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

At a press briefing, DOH alternate spokesperson Undersecretary Beverly Ho reported that all regions detected the BA.5 variant except in Region 12 and the Bangsamoro region based on the latest genome results covering July 22 to July 26.

Of the 890 new BA.5 cases, 232 were from the National Capital Region, 252 were from Western Visayas, 136 were from Calabarzon, 63 from the Cordillera Administrative Region,  59 from Cagayan Valley, 46 from Central Luzon, 37 from Mimaropa, 29 from Ilocos Region, 13 from Bicol Region, five each from Central Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula, and one each from Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, and Caraga.

Nine returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) also tested positive for the BA.5, DOH said.

Based on the latest sequencing run, the total number of BA.5 cases in the country is now at 1,997.

Ho noted that 823 of these cases are now tagged as recovered, 31 are still under isolation, while the status of others are still being verified. 

Of these cases, 650 individuals are fully vaccinated, 18 are partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the 222 others are still unknown.

Their exposure, travel histories, and health status are also still being verified.

BA.4

The latest genome sequencing run also yielded positive results for 18 more Omicron BA.4 subvariant cases in the country.

Of which, seven individuals were from NCR, six were from the Bicol Region, two from CAR, and one each from Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Calabarzon.

A total of 71 BA.4 cases have already been detected in the country.

Seventeen out of these 18 individuals are now considered as recovered, while the remaining one is still undergoing isolation.

There were 13 of them who are also fully vaccinated while the vaccination status of the remaining five are still being identified.

All of their dates of exposure, travel histories, and health status are also being verified by authorities.

Both the BA.5 and BA.4 sub-lineages of Omicron 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.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire also earlier said 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 then said that these subvariants should “not be any cause of concern.”

BA.2.12.1

Further, Ho said that 15 additional BA.2.12.1 cases were detected in the country, bringing its total caseload to 154.

Of the fresh cases, five were from NCR, four from CAR, three from Calabarzon, and one each from Ilocos Region and Mimaropa. One ROF also tested positive for the BA.2.12.1 Omicron subvariant.

Fourteen of them are now tagged as recovered, while the remaining individual is still under isolation.

Eight of them are also fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of the six others are still being identified.

The DOH said their exposure to the virus, travel histories, and health status are still unknown.

The BA.2.12.1 was also flagged by the United States Centers for Disease Control due to the observed increasing cases in the US.

Vergeire previously 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.

The Philippines on Wednesday recorded 2,727 new COVID-19 cases, which brought the number of active infections to 27,754.

Based on the DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, there are now 71.6 million Filipinos who are fully vaccinated. Of this number, 16 million have received their booster shots. — RSJ, GMA News