Marcos: Gov't monitoring Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5

The Philippine government is closely monitoring the highly contagious Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Friday.

In an interview with reporters, Marcos was asked about his directives to the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine following the detection of the latest variant in other countries.

"Well, ganun pa rin. We are still in the same status. At, mukha naman kagaya ng mga bagong variant na mga pumapasok dito, na dumadating. Naka-abang tayo. Binabantayan natin nang husto," Marcos said.

(It's still the same. We are still in the same status. And just like the other variants detected in our country, we are monitoring. We are constantly checking.)

"Like before, I’ve always looked at the hospitals and the occupancy rate. Kasi I start to worry pagka ‘yung ospital ay hindi na kaya tanggapin ang pasyente dahil punong-puno na sila. Wala pa tayo roon (I start to worry whenever hospitals can no longer accept patients. We are not in that situation)," he added.

Marcos added that the hospital occupancy rates had increased due to other illnesses.

"What has happened, nag-increase ang occupancy rate ng mga ospital dahil ‘yung hindi nagpa-ospital ng dalawang taon, ngayon eh pumupunta sa ospital. It’s not for COVID, it’s for other things," the President said.

(The occupancy rate has increased because of those who did not go to hospitals in the past two years.)

"So, we’re watching it. Of course, very closely. But so far, mukha naman maayos, mukha namang nama-manage natin (it seems we can manage this)," he added.

So far, the DOH has not detected the highly contagious variant in the country yet.

Based on data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 40% of COVID-19 cases in the US were caused by XBB.1.5, with the subvariant doubling from the previous week, a report from Reuters said.

Health experts also expressed concern about the increasing COVID-19 cases in China, as several infectious disease experts were worried about the XBB.1.5 variant, the report added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News