FLiRT variant KP.2 already in PH —DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday confirmed that COVID-19 subvariant KP.2, which is among the so-called “FLiRT” variants, has already been detected in the Philippines.

In a message to reporters, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that the earliest sample collection date for KP.2 in the country is in May 2024.

“It may be likely that there are earlier KP.2 cases, but because of limited sequencing we have not detected and reported this earlier,” he said. 

Citing the recent sequencing data from the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), the DOH said that two cases of KP.2, as well as 30 cases of JN.1 and two cases of JN.1.18 were reported as of last month.

The KP.2 is a currently circulating variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is a descendant of the JN.1, a variant of interest that was responsible for the infection increase earlier this year.

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The earliest sample collection date for JN.1 in the Philippines was November 2023. 

The new COVID-19 cases were also continuously increasing in the past weeks, with a total of 2,235 cases logged from May 21 to 27. This translated to an average of 319 cases daily — higher than the previous week's 202 daily average. 

Despite this, the DOH emphasized that there is still no evidence to show that the KP.2 could cause severe to critical COVID-19.

Recent data also showed that all the regions in the Philippines remained to be at “low risk” for COVID-19. 

“Their detection, along with the slow increase in the number of new cases and the plateau in number of occupied COVID-19 beds, aligns with the international observation that the new variants under monitoring continue to be clinically mild and manageable,” the DOH said. 

As to hospital bed utilization, only 14% or 174 out of the 1,235 dedicated COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) beds were occupied as of May 27. 

Meanwhile, 15% or 1,601 out of the 10,910 total COVID-19 beds were being used. 

Severe and critical COVID-19 cases admitted in hospitals across the country also totalled to 185 or 10% of the total admissions. 

“The average number of daily reported severe, critical, and ICU COVID-19 admissions as of May 27 is much less than its level in the middle of May 2023. Out of the new cases reported for the said week, 22 had severe or critical disease,” the DOH said. 

Twenty deaths were also recently recorded, with five of them occurring from May 14 to 27. 

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa last month directed the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) to conduct a thorough screening at points of entry for arriving visitors coming from countries where the new FLiRT variants have been detected. 

Last Wednesday, the DOH said it is open to making modifications in its existing budget to address and mitigate the possible effects to the country of the new COVID-19 variants dubbed as “FLiRT.”

In December 2023, it could be recalled that Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that the DOH did not allocate any budget for the procurement of new COVID-19 vaccines for 2024.

Herbosa made the announcement as the country's supply of COVID-19 monovalent and bivalent vaccines back then were already exhausted, following the lifting of the State of Public Health Emergency in July last year.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News