INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — There is now local transmission of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariant XBB and XBC variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.
“Definitely, there is local transmission,” Alathea de Guzman, officer-in-charge of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, said of the XBB subvariant and XBC variant in an online town hall meeting.
De Guzman said this is because XBB and XBC cases are not linked to overseas travel.
To date, the Philippines has recorded 81 XBB Omicron sub-variant cases while the country also reported 193 cases of the XBC variant.
READ: Philippines detects 81 COVID-19 cases of new XBB Omicron subvariant – DOH
The XBB and XBC variants are recombined coronaviruses. The XBB is a recombination of the BJ.1 and BM.1.1.1 strains of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, while XBC is a combination of the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron and Delta variants.