MANILA — The Philippines has detected 7 additional cases of omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, raising its tally to 11, according to the Department of Health.

The 7 local XBB.1.16 cases were found in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Mimaropa, Bicol Region and Central Luzon, the DOH's latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report showed.

XBB.1.16, also known as "Arcturus," is a descendent lineage of XBB, a recombinant of two BA.2 descendent lineages.

The DOH previously said the strain is capable of evading immunity and appears to be more contagious than previous variants.

The health department has also said there is a local transmission of XBB.1.16 "since there is an increasing number of cases of the variant with no linkages to international cases or no known history of exposure".

• DOH: First 'Arcturus' case in PH is from Iloilo, patient has recovered

The agency also detected 131 new cases of omicron subvariants.

Of the figure, 86 were classified as XBB, which include 33 XBB.1.9.1 cases, 13 XBB.1.5 cases, 8 XBB.1.9.2 cases and 25 cases of other XBB sublineages; 36 as BA.2.3.20, 2 BA.2.75. cases, and 7 XBC cases.

Only Region 10 and Caraga region did not record any local XBB cases, the DOH said.

These are results of the latest sequencing run conducted by San Lazaro Hospital and the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center from May 9 to 11, the DOH said.

The WHO designated the XBB.1.16 as a variant of interest or VOI in April following a sustained increase in its prevalence. It has so far spread to dozens of countries.

• Philippines detects 3 more cases of omicron subvariant Arcturus; total now 4

As of May 20, the country has 16,503 active COVID-19 cases, the DOH's COVID-19 Tracker showed.

Of some 4.1 million infections logged since the start of the pandemic, 66,466 led to death.

Last week, the DOH logged 12,414 COVID-19 cases last week, up 31 percent in daily infections.

This is the highest number of weekly cases in 30 weeks, or since the week of October 10 to October 16, when the DOH logged 15,173 cases, according to the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

• Philippines logs 12,414 COVID-19 cases, up 31 pct in past week

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