PH logs two more cases of EG.5 subvariant of Omicron

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has reported 703 infections of various Omicron COVID-19 subvariants, two classified as EG.5.

The DOH’s latest biosurveillance report reflected sequencing results of 767 samples by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital Main and Mindanao from July 26 to August 1.

The majority of the cases belonged to the XBB subvariant of Omicron, with a total of 647, consisting of the following:

• XBB.1.5  — 41 cases
• XBB.1.16 — 181 cases
•  XBB.1.9.1 — 140 cases
• XBB.2.3 — 228 cases
• Other XBB sublineages — 50 cases

Seven cases were also classified as XBB.1.9.2, including two EG.5 subvariants.

With the 10 recorded the previous week, the total registered infections of EG.5 are now at 10.

According to the DOH, EG.5 is classified by the World Health Organization as a “variant under monitoring, ” meaning it has “genetic changes that are suspected to affect virus characteristics and early signals of growth advantage relative to other circulating variants.”

However, the DOH explained that the EG.5 currently poses no differences in disease severity and clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, 35 other infections were classified as BA.2.3.20, 15 as BA.5, two as XBC, and one as CH.1.1, and another three were tagged as “other Omicron sublineages.”

The XBB subvariant remains the most dominant strain, with 7,436 cases registered so far.

As of July 7, the country has a COVID-19 caseload of 4,173,477, including 4,102,891 recoveries, 66,622 deaths, and 3,963 active infections.

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