Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (red) infected with a variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (green), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
MANILA (UPDATE) — The Department of Health on Thursday reported 17 more cases of omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 in the country.
The nationwide tally of "Arcturus" cases stood at 28.
Of the new XBB.1.16 cases, 7 were found in Western Visayas, 5 in Davao Region, 2 in Metro Manila, and 1 each in Bicol, Central Visayas and Mimaropa, the DOH's latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report showed.
XBB.1.16 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 agency also earlier confirmed the 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".
21 CASES OF XBB.2.3
The DOH also detected 228 new cases of omicron subvariants.
Of the figure, 182 were classified as XBB, including 25 XBB.1.5 cases, 101 XBB.1.9.1 cases, 17 XBB.1.9.2 cases and ten XBB.2.3 cases; 41 as BA.2.3.20, 1 case as XBC, and 4 as other omicron sublineages.
So far, the Philippines has tallied a total of 21 cases of XBB.2.3.
The DOH described the XBB.2.3 as an XBB sublineage that was added to the list of variants under monitoring by the World Health Organization on May 17.
The variant was initially flagged for its increasing global prevalence and has been detected in 53 countries or jurisdictions across 6 continents, according to sequence submissions in GISAID.
"Limited information is available for the variant and researchers are currently characterizing XBB.2.3 in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease," the DOH report read.
These report included results of the latest sequencing run conducted by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center from May 15 to 19.
'DRIVERS OF COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION
For an infectious disease expert, the XBB subvariants are fueling the COVID-19 infections in the community.
"Although mild, most likely, this is the more reason to believe that the XBB sublineage like the XBB.1.5 and the XBB.1.16 are the drivers of the community transmission that is ongoing now," Dr. Rontgene Solante told ABS-CBN News.
He urged the public not to be complacent. He also cited greater public mobility as among reasons for the rise in infections.
The WHO declared earlier this month that the COVID-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency.
"COVID is still with us. The fact that cases are going up, we need to tell the people, everyone, protect ourselves by wearing the face masks, especially the vulnerable population," Solante said.
"And then second, I think for those who have not received their second booster, then we should encourage them: go to the LGUs, whether it’s the monovalent that is available, don’t wait for the bivalent, monovalent still has some protection against getting the severe COVID," he added.
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