93% of recently sequenced samples were Omicron cases –DOH

The Department of Health on Monday said 93% or 1,569 new cases of the more contagious Omicron variant were documented in the latest genome sequencing of 1,680 samples, pushing the total count of Omicron cases in the country to 2,722.

Of the 1,569 additional cases, 702 were detected by the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), and the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) while 867 were documented by the UP-PGC Diliman, UP-PGC Visayas, and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

The new Omicron variant cases were also composed of 1,458 local cases and 76 Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs), while 35 cases were being verified.

Also, of the 1,569 new cases, 72 cases were active cases, four were deaths, and 1,403 were recoveries. The remaining 90 cases were still being verified.

Of the 2,722 total Omicron cases, the DOH said nine are deaths. Among the total Omicron cases, 499 were fully vaccinated, 11 were partially vaccinated, five were unvaccinated, and 2,197 were still being verified.

Meanwhile, the latest genome sequencing also recorded 16 more Delta variant cases including two active cases and 14 recoveries.

This brought total Delta variant cases to 8,663, with 628 who are fully vaccinated, 230 partially vaccinated, 536 unvaccinated, and 7,269 whose vaccination status was still being verified.

On the other hand, the DOH also bared that the UP-PGC Visayas had started conducting genome sequencing, which will augment the country's capacity to detect more variants.

"The DOH, UP-PGC, and UP-NIH also announce that UP-PGC Visayas has recently concluded a successful initial sequencing run of 94 samples from Western Visayas and can now regularly sequence samples. This sequencing facility will mainly accommodate samples from the Visayas regions," DOH said. — DVM, GMA News