Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25) — The Philippines has detected its first case of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
In its latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report released on Tuesday, the DOH recorded one case of the variant. However, it noted that XBB.1.16 is spreading around the world and was detected in 33 countries.
DOH also said the current available evidence for XBB.1.16 “does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant.”
“Researchers are currently characterizing the variant in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease,” the health department added.
The World Health Organization earlier flagged it as a new variant of interest because of the increasing number of cases.
