‘XBF subvariant unlikely to cause COVID-19 surge’

MANILA, Philippines — The new Omicron subvariant XBF is not expected to cause a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvaña said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.

“Hopefully, there will be no increase in our (COVID-19) cases especially because of the country’s high vaccine coverage now. We will be monitoring this... It looks like we are protected against severe diseases because of our vaccines,” Salvaña said.

The expert still advised the public to continuously comply with the minimum health protocols like wearing masks to avoid the virus.
He also encouraged the public to update their respective vaccination status by getting booster doses.

“If we want additional protection, continue to wear masks and get the bivalent vaccines, once it becomes available, especially for the most vulnerable population,” Salvaña added.

The health expert likewise stressed the importance of using all the layers of protection available to avoid a surge in COVID cases.
Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) reported the country’s first case of Omicron subvariant XBF.

The DOH said the first XBF case detected in the Philippines is a Filipino senior citizen with no known history of travel. The case presented mild symptoms, and has since been tagged as recovered.
The XBF is a recombinant sublineage of Omicron BA.5 and BA.2.75 which has been associated with recent case increases in Australia and Sweden.

It is one of the three Omicron subvariants recently added by the World Health Organization to its list of subvariants under monitoring, aside from XBB.1.5 and CH.1.1.

“Variants are expected to emerge and what’s important is our cases have remained manageable through vaccination and boosters. Let’s continue to assess our own risk and employ our layers of protection through vaccination and boosters,” added the DOH.