DOH detects 190 more COVID-19 cases that carries Omicron subvariants

Digital interpretation of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reported 190 more infections of COVID-19, which carries the SARS-CoV-2’s Omicron variant and its sub-lineages.

According to the DOH, the latest whole-genome sequencing conducted from June 29 to July 4 found 90 COVID-19 cases that were positive for the Omicron variants of concern: 43 were carriers of BA.5, 20 were BA.2.12.1, and seven were BA.4.

Health experts say these Omicron sub-variants are highly transmissible and can evade vaccine protection.

Meanwhile, 100 others were categorized under the different sub-lineages of the Omicron variant.

“In total, there were 190 cases testing positive for the Omicron Variant of Concern and all of its sublineages (90.5%), while 21 samples have no lineage assigned,” the DOH said in an advisory.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases positive for Omicron to 7,919.

Of the 190 newly-recorded Omicron cases, 185 were tagged as local cases while five were from Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs). This translates to 42 of 43 BA.5 cases and 16 of 20 BA.2.12.1 cases while all seven BA.4 cases are local as the remaining 4 BA.2.12.1 and one BA.5 case are ROFs.

Meanwhile, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also announced that the country’s total COVID-19 hospital bed utilization is still at low risk and that there were no deaths recorded among the new cases of Omicron sub-variants.

“Nevertheless, maintaining minimum public health standards and being up-to-date on vaccination should still be practiced by every Filipino to reduce transmission,” she said in the advisory.

Of the 190 new Omicron cases, 152 have already recovered, 27 are still sick, while 11  are still being verified, the DOH said.

RELATED STORY

Metro Manila’s COVID-19 positivity rate breaches WHO benchmark

KGA/abc