DOH detects 1,200 new BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases

A total of 1,200 new BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases have been detected in the country based on the latest sequencing results from September 24 to 26, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.

In a media forum report, the DOH said 1,199 cases were local and one came from a Filipino who returned from abroad.

“Ang BA.5 dito po sa ating bansa is already at around 41% among Omicron subvariants that we have detected,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, at least 33 BA.4 Omicron subvariant were also detected, of which 31 came from Soccsksargen and two from Northern Mindanao.

The DOH said at least nine local cases of Delta variant were detected in which five cases came from Soccsksargen, three in Caraga, and one in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The Health department also recorded three new cases of BA.2.75 Omicron subvariant and two cases of BA.2.12.1.

It also reported 186 cases of “no assigned lineage,” 162 cases of “other sublineages,” and one case of “other lineage assigned.”

Vergeire said that part of the lifecycle of the virus is to "mutate.”

“Gusto lang namin ipaalala sa ating mga kababayan that this virus kasama sa kanyang lifecycle ang pagmumutate,” she said.

(We want to remind our fellow Filipinos that part of the lifecycle of this virus is to mutate.)

“Nagmumutate ang virus kapag favorable ang kondisyon niya ibig sabihin may mga immunocompromised tayo na walang bakuna. Ibig sabihin maaring na may fully vaccinated status tayo pero marami namang walang booster na maaring magtrigger na pagmumutate ng virus,” she added.

(The virus mutates when the condition is favorable, which means we have immunocompromised people who were not yet vaccinated. It also means that we may have a fully vaccinated status, but there are many who do not get their booster shots that can trigger the mutation of the virus.)

She then encouraged the public to get their COVID-19 booster shots to prevent the further mutation of the virus and increase of severe and critical cases.

Based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website, the Omicron subvariants under monitoring as of September 22, 2022 are BA.5.1, BA.5.2, BA.2.75, BQ.1, BJ.1, and BA.4.6.

The Philippines on Monday recorded 2,001 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total nationwide tally to 3,940,201.

Based on the latest DOH bulletin, active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines increased to 37,082 from Sunday’s 35,999 — marking the fourth straight day the country has more than 30,000 active infections.—LDF, GMA News