No instances of the extremely contagious Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 have been detected within the nation, in accordance with the Department of Health on Tuesday.
“The DOH assures the public that [the] government continues to implement COVID-19 surveillance and monitoring activities, and is confident in detecting potential variants that may enter the country,” the Health Department stated in a press release.
“To date, there are currently no cases of XBB.1.5 detected in the country,” it added.
The DOH reiterated that COVID-19 variants will “continue to emerge and re-emerge.”
“What’s important is we continue to employ our layers of protection, such as sanitation, masking, distancing, vaccination, and boosters, as well as good ventilation, to keep cases manageable and prevent virus transmission,” it stated.
Based on the information of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 40% of COVID-19 instances within the US have been attributable to XBB.1.5, with the subvariant doubling from the earlier week, in accordance with a report from Reuters.
Health specialists additionally expressed concern concerning the growing COVID-19 instances in China, as a number of infectious illness specialists have been anxious concerning the XBB.1.5 variant, the report stated. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
