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The Philippines logged 618 more COVID-19 infections caused by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed.
The total number of new Omicron cases account for 91.29 percent of the 677 total samples sequenced, the health department said. This raised the overall Omicron infections in the country to 1,153.
Of the 618 Omicron cases, 497 are local cases while 121 are returning overseas Filipino. Majority of these cases, or a total of 238 were found in Metro Manila, while 71 cases were in Calabarzon.
Ilocos Region and Western Visayas each logged 30 infections, Central Luzon logged 27; Central Visayas, 21; Cagayan Valley 19; and CAR, 13.
Davao Region has 10 cases, Soccsksargen has 6; Bicol Region, 2; Mimaropa, 1; and Northern Mindanao 1.
DOH said that 560 have been tagged as recovered, 13 are still active, while 2 have died. The other 43 cases are still under verification.
The original Omicron strain (B.1.529) and both its sublineages, BA.1 as well as BA.2, called the ‘stealth omicron’, were all found in the sequencing.
“The earliest detection of the BA.2 sublineage was on December 31, 2021, and was found to be the majority of Omicron cases in the latest batch,” the health department said.
The agency noted that the detection of the stealth Omicron does not entail significant changes in the COVID-19 response.
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