THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said it is closely monitoring the movement of the Omicron XE variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In a statement, the DOH said it is working closely with the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) in checking if the more transmissible variant has already entered the country.
“The DOH, with the assistance of the Philippine Genome Center, is continuously monitoring case trends and conducting genomic surveillance activities amidst the threat of new and existing variants,” said the DOH.
“We continue to implement our four-door strategy to prevent initial entry of the variant to the country,” it added.
In addition, the health department said it is also closely coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the assessment of the Omicron XE.
The DOH said it wants to know the characteristics of the newest COVID-19 variant, which has been detected in Bangkok, Thailand. The Omicron XE is a hybrid of two other strains —the original BA.1 Omicron variant and BA.2. It was first detected in the United Kingdom earlier this year and had infected 637 patients as of March 19, according to a WHO report during the weekend.
Initial WHO estimates indicate that Omicron XE is 10 percent more transmissible than BA.2, but its severity is still being investigated.
“Observation and monitoring are still ongoing on whether the variant would be categorized as a sub-variant of Omicron or a new variant to be named by WHO should it display any significant change in characteristics,” added the DOH.
