MANILA — The Philippines has detected 923 more cases of highly transmissible omicron subvariants BA.5, BA.4, and BA.2.12.1, the Department of Health said Thursday.

Government found 890 additional cases of the omicron BA.5, 18 more cases of the BA.4, and 15 new cases of the BA2.12.1, according to Health Undersecretary Beverly Ho.

The latest figures raise the country's total to 1,997 BA.5 cases, 154 BA.2.12.1 cases, and 71 BA.4 cases, Ho said. The DOH removed one case each from the BA.5 and BA.4 tallies for being duplicates, she added.

All regions except Bangsamoro and Soccksargen logged a case of the omicron BA.5 in the latest whole genome sequencing, Ho said. Nine of the additional BA.5 cases were returning Filipinos, she added.

Of the 890 newly reported BA.5 cases, 823 have recovered, 31 were still under isolation, while the status of the remaining 36 was still being verified, Ho said.

A total of 650 were fully vaccinated, 18 were partially vaccinated, while the inoculation status of the remaining 222 was still being verified, she added.

A total of 18 more BA.4 cases were also reported, of which 17 have recovered, while the remaining patient was still under isolation, according to Ho, who heads the Public Health Services Team.

Thirteen of the patients were fully inoculated while the vaccination status of the remaining cases was being verified, Ho said.

Seven of the BA.4 cases were from Metro Manila, 6 were from Bicol region, 2 from the Cordilleras, and 1 each from Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Calabarzon, Ho added.

Meanwhile, out of the additional 15 BA.2.12.1 cases, 14 have recovered while one patient is under isolation, according to Ho.

Eight of the patients were fully vaccinated, 1 was partially inoculated, and the vaccination status of the remaining cases was being verified, Ho said.

Five of the BA.2.12.1 cases were from Metro Manila, 4 were from the Cordilleras, 3 from Calabarzon, and 1 each from Mimaropa, Ilocos region, and abroad, Ho added.

The exposure and travel histories of all patients have yet to be identified, according to Ho.

The country recorded 21,331 new COVID-19 cases in the previous week, about a 32-percent increase from a week before, the undersecretary said.

The DOH earlier said tightening border controls was unnecessary in preventing new omicron subvariants BA.2.75 and BA.5.2.1.

• DOH rejects stricter border control as new omicron sublineages emerge
• 'Only a matter of time' until highly transmissible omicron BA.2.75 enters PH: expert

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