The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it has detected a local transmission of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1.
In a media briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said three new cases of the subvariant were detected in the Western Visayas Region.
"Bagamat nai-report po natin ang detection ng Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 noong nakaraang linggo, narito po tayo upang sabihin na mayroon na pong local transmission nitong subvariant ng Omicron na ito sa ating bansa," she said.
According to Vergeire, one of the three is a fully vaccinated returning overseas Filipino from the United States, while the remaining two are local cases. Of the two local cases, one is fully vaccinated while the other is being verified.
With this, the Philippines has now 17 total cases of BA.2.12.1.
"Nangangahulugan po na ang mga kaso na na-detect natin ay wala na pong kaugnayan sa mga kaso na nagmula sa labas ng bansa ngunit makikita pa rin po ang linkages ng mga detected cases,” she added.
Vergeire stressed that there is no community transmission yet.
