MANILA — The Department of Education on Wednesday said its policy on face-to-face classes would stay despite the detection of the new COVID variant XBC and subvariant XBB in the Philippines.

The agency is coordinating with the Department of Health and waiting for further guidelines, said DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa.

"Sa ngayon, wala pa tayong advice on any change," Poa said in a televised public briefing.

"Kaka-issue lang natin ng Department Order 44 noong Monday. Tayo naman sa Department of Education, of course, we will always take our cue from the advice given by the DOH pagdating sa health guidelines or any health concerns," he continued.

(For now, we have no advice on any change. We only issued Department Order 44 last Monday. We at the Department of Education, of course, we will always take our cue from the advice given by the DOH when it comes to health guidelines or any health concerns.)

Under the said DepEd order, all public schools must transition to 5 days of in-person classes from Nov. 2. Private schools may continue to implement blended learning or full distance learning until the end of the school year, said the education department.

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Public schools which are not ready for full in-person classes may appeal for exception so they could continue hybrid learning setups, according to the DepEd.

Poa said the agency would soon issue a memo listing down the basis for exceptions.

• DepEd: Public schools can also apply for hybrid learning set-ups after Nov. 2

He said the DepEd allowed private schools to continue implementing blended learning due to their investment on online learning technology, the development of best practices for distance learning, and the closure of some private schools due to losses.

The DepEd reiterated its reminder to students and school personnel to continue observing minimum health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 following the detection of XBB and XBC cases.

“Hindi natin puwedeng ibalewala ang COVID at nandito pa rin po talaga ang COVID. Pero iyon nga po, we just have to observe iyong ating public health protocols na nakasaad sa mga guidelines ng DOH at IATF,” Poa said.

(We cannot disregard COVID because it's still here. We just have to observe public health protocols stated in the guidelines of the DOH and IATF.)

The health department on Tuesday said 81 cases of the omicron XBB subvariant were detected in Western Visayas and Davao Region.

The XBB has been the primary cause of new COVID-19 spikes in Singapore, the DOH said.

It also confirmed some 193 cases of XBC, a recombinant of delta and BA.2 variants, which is under monitoring and investigation by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency.