A total of 613 new cases of Omicron subvariants of the Covid-19 virus were detected, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
The DOH said that 694 positive samples underwent genome sequencing that was conducted by the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) last Jan. 28.
Out of the recent 694 samples, 252 cases were classified as BA.2.3.20; 201 cases as XBB; 25 as BA.5 (including 18 cases classified as BQ.1); 15 as XBC; two as BA.2.75; and 118 as other Omicron sublineages, the DOH reported.
"All additional BA.2.3.20 and XBB cases were local cases from all regions except Regions 8, 10, and 11. Among 25 BA.5 cases detected, 16 were local cases from Regions 2, 3, 4A, 7, 12, Caraga, and NCR (National Capital Region), and the remaining nine cases were returning overseas Filipinos (ROF)," the DOH said.
"The 15 additional XBC cases detected were from Regions 9, 12, and CARAGA while the two BA.2.75 cases came from Region 7 and Caraga," the DOH added.
Thursday’s cases
Meanwhile, the DOH recorded 145 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, Feb 2.
The regions with the highest number of cases in the last 14 days were the NCR with 688, followed by Calabarzon with 355, Western Visayas with 221, Davao Region with 208, and Central Luzon with 160.
The running total of confirmed cases was at 4,073,504, including 3,998,077 recoveries and 65,810 deaths. A total of 9,617 patients are still battling with Covid-19.