Forty-four new cases of omicron subvariants of the Covid-19 virus were detected, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
This was based on the results of the recent genome sequencing done by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC). The positive samples were processed last Jan. 18, the DOH said.
Of the 44 cases, 19 were tagged as BA.2.3.20, one case was BN.1, which was reported under BA.2.75; four were BA.5, including a case of BQ.1; and eight were classified as XBB. The 12 other cases were tagged as other omicron subvariants.
All BA.2.3.20 cases were local cases from Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon. The new XBB cases were from Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, and National...