An infectious disease specialist believes that the newly detected omicron subvariant XBF would not cause an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Such a scenario is less likely to happen because of the high vaccination coverage in the country, said Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines Manila.
“Because mataas naman ang antas natin ng pagbabakuna, hopefully hindi naman natin ina-anticipate na biglang sisipa iyong cases natin (our level of vaccination is high, hopefully, we are not anticipating a sudden increase in cases),” said Salvana in a public briefing on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Salvana said there remains no evidence that suggests that both omicron subvariants XBF and XBB.15 cause severe disease.
“Iyong XBF at saka itong XBB .1.5 na nakikita natin mayroon talaga iyang taglay na mga mutations na maaaring magbigay sa kanilang survival advantage. Bagama’t wala namang ebidensya na mas makakapagdulot ito ng severe disease (Both the XBF and XBB.1.5 have mutations that can give them a survival advantage. Although there is no evidence that they can cause more severe disease),” he said.
To note, the Department of Health (DOH) reported the country’s first case of XBF subvariant on Wednesday, Feb. 14. This subvariant is being linked to the recent spike in cases in Australia and Sweden.
“The first case detected here in the Philippines is from a Filipino senior citizen with no known history of travel, the individual presented mild symptoms, and has already been tagged as recovered,” the DOH said in a brief statement on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Meanwhile, the DOH reported the presence of omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 last Feb. 7. To date, three cases have been detected in the Philippines.