MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday confirmed the detection of several COVID-19 variants under monitoring (VUMs) in the country, including KP.2, one of the two variants known as the “FLiRT” variants.
Despite this, the DOH assured the public that the newly detected variants are “clinically mild and manageable.”
READ: DOH: PH still at low risk for COVID-19, even amid ‘FliRT’ variants
According to the DOH, genome sequencing data by the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) showed that 30 cases of JN.1, two cases of JN.1.8, and two cases of KP.2 have so far been recorded in the country.
“Their detection (along with the slow increase in the number of new cases and the plateau in number of occupied COVID-19 beds) aligns with the international observation that the new variants under monitoring continue to be clinically mild and manageable,” said the DOH in a statement.
When asked if the high number of JN.1 cases means it is currently the predominant subvariant, DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo said that it is still too early to say since there are still samples being sequenced
“What we can say is most of the sequenced cases are JN.1, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that out there, it is the predominant subvariant,” said Domingo.
Domingo explained that the earliest sample collection date for JN.1 in the country dates as far back as November 2023, while for KP.2 was in May 2024.
“It may be likely that there are earlier KP.2 cases, but because of limited sequencing we have not detected and reported this earlier,” he said.
The DOH said that currently, there are four variants under monitoring, namely, JN.1.7, JN.1.18, KP.2, and KP.3 — all of which are descendants of JN.1.
Variants KP.2 and KP.3 are the proper names of what is informally known as “FLiRT” variants.
The DOH said there is still no evidence that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants are causing severe to critical COVID-19, both locally and internationally.
Increase in COVID-19 cases ‘slow, mild, manageable’
Meanwhile, the DOH said that as of May 27, all regions in the country remain at low risk for COVID-19.
READ: DOH: No budget for new vaccines vs ‘FLiRT’ variants of COVID-19
A total of 2,235 cases were recorded from May 21 to 27, translating to a daily average of 319, much higher than the previous week’s 202.
But the DOH noted that it is still less than half compared to the 500 daily average recorded at the start of 2024, and the 1,750 average in the same period in 2023.
Twenty-two of these cases were tagged severe or critical, while 20 deaths were recorded, of which five occurred from May 14 to 27.
In terms of hospital bed occupancy, the DOH said that as of May 27, only 14 percent or 174 of 1,235 dedicated COVID-19 ICU beds were occupied.
On the other hand, only 15 percent or 1,601 out of 10,910 total COVID-19 beds were occupied.
The total number of severe and critical COVID-19 cases in various hospitals, meanwhile, sits at 185 or 10 percent of total admissions.
“The average number of daily reported severe, critical, and ICU COVID-19 admissions as of May 27 is much less than its level in the middle of May 2023,” noted the DOH.