Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) – The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday said seven more cases of the COVID-19 Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, or Arcturus, were recorded in the Philippines, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 11.
In its latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report, the DOH said that Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) run conducted from May 9 to 11 detected seven new cases of the Omicron variant among 137 samples collected in the following areas: Region 3 (2 cases), Region 5 (1), Region 6 (2), Region 4B (1), and the Cordillera Administrative Region (1).
The first case of Arcturus was detected in Iloilo based on a WGS run conducted from April 12 to 17. The patient was asymptomatic and has already recovered, the DOH said.
Three more cases were logged in Western Visayas from April 12 to 19.
However, the DOH clarified that the first four Arcturus cases had no links to international cases and no known history of exposure. It has yet to issue a statement on the seven new cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier defined Arcturus, which has been detected in over 30 countries, as a variant of interest, meaning it has “genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect variant characteristics (e.g. transmissibility, antibody evasion, virulence)” and “a growth advantage over other circulating variants in more than one WHO region.”
The WHO earlier declared that COVID-19 was no longer considered a global health emergency.
The announcement came amid rapidly increasing cases of the virus in the Philippines. As of May 19, the nationwide positivity rate for COVID-19 stood at 24.3%, with the National Capital Region logging a positivity rate of 26%.
