DOH: ‘Stealth Omicron’ not yet seen in PH

By CNN Philippines Staff

Published Jan 24, 2022 11:48:04 AM

Updated Jan 24, 2022 2:27:00 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) — The “stealth Omicron” sub-variant BA.2 which was reported in some parts of the world has not yet been detected in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

“Hanggang sa ngayon pa naman po wala pa tayong nadedetect na BA.2 dito sa ating bansa (Until now, we have not yet detected any BA.2 subvariant here in the country),” Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines’ The Source.

Vergeire said the Philippine Genome Center has the capability to detect “all possible lineages that are present in every sample” under the genome sequencing process. But according to some news reports citing health experts across the globe, the stealth Omicron cannot be easily distinguished from other COVID-19 variants through RT-PCR tests.

The sub-lineage of the highly transmissible variant was already detected in countries like the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, France, Canada, Australia, and India to date. Vergeire said they have yet to get information from the World Health Organization whether it should be classified as a variant of interest or concern.

The UK Health Security Agency has so far classified BA.2 as a “variant under investigation,” one level below a variant of concern, after a significant rise in COVID-19 cases the past days.

“When Omicron was being reported already, after mga one week lumabas na po yan, yang report na yan na there is another sublineage of this Omicron variant and they call it BA.2,” Vergeire explained. “This came out in some of the areas in Europe kung saan sinasabi nila na it’s overtaking the detections of Omicron at ito na yung kanilang subvariant na nakikita.”

[Translation: When Omicron was being reported already, a week after, there is a report claiming that another sublineage of this Omicron variant has emerged and they call it BA.2. This came out in some of the areas in Europe where they say that it’s overtaking the detections of Omicron and this is the subvariant that they are seeing.]

Vergeire said WHO and other experts across the globe are still studying the stealth Omicron, but initial findings have shown that patients who were detected with this subvariant experienced symptoms that are similar to those who had the Omicron variant.

There seems to be no difference when it comes to the severity of illness, but more studies have yet to be made to bring out more information on its transmissibility, she added.

In a public briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III called on the public to remain vigilant, get their vaccine doses, and continue following the minimum health standards amid pending update from WHO.

“Ang bakuna (COVID-19 vaccine) continues to be effective against severe, critical cases, therefore preventing hospitalizations and deaths,” he said.

“Ang minimum public health standards, iyon pa rin ang ating stratehiya na napatunayang epektibo..Huwag tayong tutulad sa ibang bansa na nagdeklara na wala nang mask mandate, pwede nang magbukas,” Duque added.

[Translation: Compliance with minimum public health standards is part of our strategy that has proven to be effective…let us not follow the other countries which got rid of their mask mandate and further eased restrictions.]

The country recorded over 29,000 new infections last Sunday, with total cases hitting 3,417,216. Over 36,000 people have reportedly recovered as of the same day, raising the survivor count to 3,090,164.

COVID-19 watchdog OCTA Research said Metro Manila may have reached its peak in cases last week, but other provinces continue to experience a surge in infections, amid the spread of Omicron in the country.

SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/1/24/Stealth-Omicron-not-yet-detected-PH.html