DOH: 54 Omicron subvariant XBB.1.9.1 cases detected in PH

A total of 54 cases of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.9.1 have been detected in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

In its latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report issued on Thursday, the DOH said the XBB.1.9.1 was initially flagged due to its "increasing global prevalence and higher growth advantage."

The XBB.1.9.1 is an XBB sublineage that was recently added to the list of variants under monitoring by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 30.

Based on the sequenced samples by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) released on April 3 to 11, there were only 39 cases of XBB.1.9.1.

Of the 39 cases, 22 cases were detected in Davao, seven in Ilocos, four in the National Capital Region (NCR), and one each in Central Visayas and Soccsksargen.

Detected in 63 countries, the XBB.1.9.1 does not have any difference in disease severity and clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant based on available evidence, the DOH said.

For the Omicron variant, the DOH reported a total of 199 cases — 185 local infections and 14 returning overseas Filipinos.

Some cases of the following Omicron lineages were also detected:

• 70 cases of BA.2.3.20
• 1 case of CH.1.1
• 1 case of BQ.1
• 30 cases of XBB.1.5
• 39 cases of XBB.1.9.1
• 45 cases of other XBB sublineages
• 2 cases of XBC
• 1 case of other Omicron sublineages
• 10 cases of no lineage assigned

As of Thursday, the DOH has recorded a total of 4,084,626 COVID-19 cases of which 9,533 were active cases.

As of March 15, the DOH said a total of 79,165,858 people have completed their doses of COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 24,176,344 people have received a booster dose. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA Integrated News