MANILA - Health authorities are closely tracking developments on the supposed emergence of a coronavirus mutation out of both the delta and omicron variants, amid concerns that it could again bring another spike in fresh cases, Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.

According to reports, scientists have detected the presence of the so-called “deltacron” in France and other countries.

• READ: 'Deltacron' likely result of lab error, experts say

Experts noted though that the reported mutation, which combines the more severe delta with the more infectious omicron, does not pose much danger, given the population’s substantial immunity against both variants.

“Well, wala pang malinaw na characterization itong sinasabi nilang Deltacron. So, maghihintay tayo sa WHO kung ano ang kanilang gabay, ano ba ang mga katangian nitong sinasabing na-detect na Deltacron sa Europe and sa America. Pero iilan-ilan pa lang naman iyan,” Duque said.

(There is no clear characterization of the deltacron yet. We are just waiting from the WHO what the guide would be and what the detected deltacron in Europe and America really is.)

• READ: WHO 'sole authority' to classify variants, says DOH

“So, binabantayan iyan ng ating Philippine Genome Center. At tayo ay nakikibalita araw-araw, minu-minuto patungkol dito para makapaghanda naman tayo kung saka-sakaling medyo mabigat o seryoso, kung mayroon mang ganoong pagtukoy o pagkilala nitong sinasabi nilang Deltacron.”

(The Philippine Genome Center is monitoring this. And we are getting updates so we could prepare should the deltacron, if confirmed, turns out to be serious.)

According to the ABS-CBN Data Analytics team, the Philippines has posted less than a thousand fresh cases in the past 2 days.

As of Wednesday, country has 47,471 active COVID-19 cases, the lowest since January 5, ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido said.

The country battled a surge in new infections from late December until January due to the local presence of the omicron variant.

Video from PTV