The Philippines has logged 32 new cases of Omicron subvariant BA.5, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, June 22.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 21 cases were from Western Visayas, four cases each from Calabarzon and Metro Manila, and three cases from Central Luzon.
“Thirty individuals are fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated, while the vaccination status of one case is still being verified,” said Vergeire.
“At the moment, exposure of individuals is still unknown and travel histories are being verified,” she added.
Sixteen of them have already recovered from Covid-19, while 14 of them are still undergoing isolation. The “outcome of the rest (two patients) are being verified,” said Vergeire.
There are now a total of 43 cases of Omicron subvariant BA.5 in the country.
Community transmission
Vergeire said that further studies are needed to determine if there is already community transmission of BA.5 in the country.
“We cannot say that for now...We need scientific evidence for us to say there is community transmission happening,” she said.
The DOH spokesperson said that at present, they are “still seeing the links of each cases.”
“We still need further review of all these cases so we can determine what type of transmission is already happening,” she said.