DOH: New COVID-19 subvariant XBB not yet detected in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Local health authorities have yet to detect the new Omicron subvariant known as XBB, the Department of Health said Thursday.

"As of October 13, we have not detected the said variant in the Philippines," the agency told reporters.

Preliminary studies suggest the XBB variant has higher immune evasion ability than BA.5.

"The DOH, in partnership with our local sequencing facilities, is continuously conducting surveillance to monitor the importation of this variant and other emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants," it said.

The XBB variant—a recombinant of BJ.1 (sublineage of BA.2.10.1) and BM.1.1.1 (sublineage of BA.2.75) is linked to a surge in cases in Singapore.  

Singapore’s Ministry of Health said that while there is an increase in local cases driven by XBB, "the number of severe cases has remained relatively low."

The health department in the Philippines recorded 14,333 additional COVID-19 cases from October 3 to 9. The figure was 10% lower than the number of infections logged from a week before.

In an update Tuesday, the DOH said that cases in Metro Manila showed signs of plateauing. Meanwhile, infections in the so-called NCR Plus Areas remained on an upward trend.

The country has confirmed 3.97 million COVID-19 infections, including over 63,000 deaths, since the start of the pandemic. — Gaea Katreena Cabico