The Department of Health announced that the Philippines detected 81 cases of the highly transmissible Omicron XBB subvariant from two regions, and 193 XBC variant cases from 11 regions.
The DOH says the XBB subvariant is one of the causes of the uptick in COVID-19 cases in Singapore.
The department added that the XBC variant is a “recombinant” of the Delta and BA.2 variants.
DOH said that for the XBB subvariant cases, 70 have recovered; eight are still undergoing isolation. Meantime, three cases are still being verified. No one died from the subvariant so far.
The health department further stated that of the XBC cases in the country, 176 have already recovered; while three are still undergoing isolation for the XBC subvariant cases.
Five have died from the variant while nine cases are still being verified.
“The XBB sublineage shows higher immune evasion ability than BA.5″ subvariant. The XBC subvariant, meanwhile, is said to be “recombinant of Delta and BA.2 variants,” the DOH added.
