THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported 492 additional cases of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including the first two deaths in the country caused by the highly transmissible strain.
In a statement, the DOH said the Omicron variant comprised 68.9 percent of the 714 samples sequenced by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) last January 13 and 14.
The 492 Omicron variant cases are composed of 332 local cases and 160 Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Among the 332 local cases, the indicated addresses of the individuals were in the National Capital Region with 227 cases, Calabarzon with 76 cases, Central Luzon with 11 cases, and Central Visayas with five cases.
There were also two cases each from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and one case each from Ilocos Region, Mimaropa, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Based on the DOH’s case line list, three cases are still active, two cases have died, 467 cases have been tagged as recovered, while there are 20 cases whose outcomes are still being verified.
The DOH said the two deaths are the first ones recorded in the country among Omicron variant cases.
The two reported deaths are aged more than 60 years old, are unvaccinated, and had pre-existing medical conditions.
With the additional cases, the total number of confirmed Omicron variant cases in the country is now up to 535.
The DOH has said that the Omicron variant is already the predominant COVID-19 variant in the NCR.
Aside from the Omicron variant, the DOH said 115 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases (16.1%), and one Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant case (0.1%) were also detected in the latest batch of whole genome sequencing done by the PGC.
Among the 115 additional Delta variant cases, 88 were local cases while 27 were ROFs.
Based on the case line list, two cases are still active, two cases have died, 107 have been tagged as recovered, while there are four cases whose outcomes are still being verified.
This brings the total number of confirmed Delta variant cases in the Philippines to 8,612.
On the other hand, the one additional Alpha variant case was found to be a local patient and has been tagged as recovered. The total number of Alpha variant cases is now up to 3,170.
