The Philippines has not yet detected the new COVID-19 Omicron subvariant XBB, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.
In a statement, the DOH said the XBB variant is a recombinant of BJ.1 (BA.2.10.1 sublineage) and BM.1.1.1 (BA.2.75 sublineage).
Preliminary studies suggest that the sublineage shows higher immune evasion ability than BA.5, it said. The BA.5 is among two omicron subvariants that are partly driving a wave of new cases of the disease in Europe and the United States.
"As of October 13, we have not detected the said variant in the Philippines. 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," the department said.
The DOH made the remark when asked about the XBB variant, which has emerged in parts of the world, including Singapore.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Singapore reported this week an increase in local cases driven by XBB, including a post-weekend spike on Tuesday.
However, the MOH in the same statement dismissed rumors circulating online that Singapore is experiencing a rapid and large increase in cases with severe illness and deaths due to the circulating XBB strain.
"This is not true. We are initiating POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act) action against such falsehoods," it added.
Other subvariant cases
The DOH earlier reported 722 new Delta and Omicron subvariant cases in the country.
In a report released on Tuesday, the DOH said 605 new BA.5 Omicron subvariant cases were detected based on the sequencing results from October 7 to 10.
Ninety-three new Delta cases were also reported, while one case is still being verified. The DOH said 18 cases of BA.4 and five cases of BA.2.75 were recorded.
The Health Department also reported that 1,623 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded, while the tally of active cases has dipped to 24,283 on Wednesday.
