THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported the country’s first case of the XBF Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which it said has been in the country since December last year.
In its latest COVID-19 Biosurveillance Report, the DOH said it has detected one case of XBF case in the country, which was sequenced last January 28 “with collection date in December 2022.”
The XBF is one of the three Omicron subvariants recently added by the World Health Organization (WHO) to its list of Omicron Subvariants Under Monitoring, aside from XBB.1.5 and CH.1.1.
It is a recombinant sublineage of BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1 (BA.2.75.3 sublineage) that was initially flagged for its increasing prevalence.
As of February 10, the XBF accounts for approximately 55 percent of total cases detected in Victoria, Australia.
Preliminary studies also show that many of Australia’s antiviral treatments against COVID-19 were no longer effective against multiple Omicron subvariants, including XBF.
“However, currently available evidence for XBF does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant,” said the DOH.
The DOH said the country currently has three XBB.1.5 cases, including two additional cases in the latest genome sequencing results.
Similarly, the country has three cases of the CH.1.1.
In its latest genome sequencing results, the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) reported that 62 out of the 69 samples belong to the Omicron variant and its subvariants.
Omicron subvariant XBB had the most number with 24, along with the 2 XBB.1.5 cases.
Ten cases of the BA.2.3.20 were also identified, while two cases of the BA.2.75 have been tagged.
The genome sequencing results also showed two cases of BA.5, one case of BQ.1, and one case of XBC. The remaining 20 were tagged as “other Omicron” subvariants.
Seven other samples have no assigned lineages, according to the DOH.
PHILHEALTH PACKAGES
Amid the continued improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the country, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) yesterday said it is set to review its existing benefit packages.
In a press conference, PhilHealth president Emmanuel Ledesma said they will evaluate the current COVID-19 benefit packages to make them more harmonious with the existing situation in the Philippines.
“PhilHealth will rationalize the current COVID-19 benefit packages, specifically for the inpatient packages, RT-PCR and rapid antigen test, and isolation packages,” said Ledesma.
“Rest assured that when we review everything, including COVID-19 (benefits), we will really have the best interest of Filipino people in mind,” he added.
PhilHealth senior vice president Israel Pargas said the review will be conducted given the continuously changing protocols and guidelines on COVID-19.
“As we all know, the standards and protocols on COVID-19 is ever changing, it is constantly updated. In that sense, in aligning with the new protocols and treatment guidelines, we will also rationalize our benefits,” said Pargas.
Asked if the changes will mean higher or lower benefit packages, he said it could be either.
“The rationalization could either mean it will be increased or it can be decreased. It will be dependent to the latest protocols and guidelines,” said Pargas.
Under the existing COVID-19 benefit packages, inpatient care packages range from P43,997 for mild pneumonia to P786,384 for critical pneumonia.
As for RT-PCR testing packages, PhilHealth covers up to P2,800 for plate- based, and P2,450 for cartridge-based.
The benefit package for rapid antigen tests, on the other hand, is pegged at P500.
For isolation benefits, PhilHealth has a benefit amounting to P5,917 for home isolation, and P22,449 for community isolation.
‘BE ON GUARD’
While the DOH revives discussions on possibly placing the country or some parts of the country under Alert Level 0 for COVID-19, CBCP – Episcopal Commission on Health Care (ECHC) Executive Secretary Fr. Dan Cancino urged the faithful to maintain vigilance against the virus.
In a radio interview, Cancino asked the faithful to not be complacent against COVID-19.
“Now that we are going back to normal, we hope you will not forget the importance of health. Our health is a gift,” he said.
He said the people must give equal importance to their health as well as those of others.
“If we say we have the right to remove our masks, we have an equal responsibility to wear the masks for the sake of others, especially the immunocompromised. We must know how to protect ourselves as well as provide protection to others,” he also said.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health (DOH) revived talks on the country’s possible de-escalation to Alert Level 0 from the currently prevailing Alert Level 1.
Based on the latest COVID-19 trend, all areas have started to show plateauing of cases in recent days, while severe/critical hospital admissions have been on downward trend for several weeks.
