Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 28) — Two Omicron subvariants are causing the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, an infectious diseases expert said Friday.
“Aside from XBB.1.16 which is already detected, the other variant of interest is XBB.1.5, and I think these two are the variants of interest that may be the one responsible for the increase in the cases that we are experiencing especially in highly urbanized areas,” Dr. Rontgene Solante told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
The Department of Health (DOH) said in its latest COVID-19 case bulletin that the number of new infections from April 17 to 23 increased by 32% from the previous week.
Private pollster OCTA Research group also flagged the rising positivity rate – or the percentage of infections among those tested – in Metro Manila from 8.4% as of April 19 to 13.4% as of April 26. This is also above the 5% threshold of the World Health Organization.
The country recorded its first XBB.1.5 case in February.
Official data showed over 70 confirmed cases of the Omicron subvariant in the country.
Meanwhile, the country’s first known case of XBB.1.16, known as “Arcturus” on social media, was confirmed this week.
Over 30 countries have reported cases of Arcturus.
While it is more transmissible than the others, Solante said Arcturus is not causing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in other countries.
READ: Experts: No increasing hospitalizations amid rising COVID-19 Arcturus cases
