Philippines detects over 800 new cases of Omicron BA.5

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health reported Wednesday the detection of 816 additional cases of the fast-spreading Omicron BA.5 subvariant in nearly all regions in the Philippines.

Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer-in-charge of the DOH, said that all regions, except the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, detected the subvariant. Twelve returning overseas Filipinos also tested positive for the BA.5 variant.

Of the newly-detected cases, 686 individuals have been tagged as recovered, while 78 people are still undergoing isolation. The outcomes of the rest are still being verified.

There are currently 1,108 detected BA.5 cases in the Philippines.

BA.5, which has shown to be good at evading the immunity afforded by vaccination or prior infection, has been driving the renewed surge of infections in the country.

Health authorities also found 42 new BA.4 cases, raising the total number of the Omicron subvariant to 54.

They also detected 52 additional BA.2.12.1 cases, bringing the total to 139.

The health department said that all regions remain at low risk for COVID-19 transmission despite the increase in infections. The number of severe and critical admission remains less than 1,000 at the national level.

The country confirmed 14,640 additional COVID-19 cases—or an average of 2,091 infections a day—from July 11 to 17. There are currently 20,511 active cases.