NEARLY 9 in every 10 latest samples sequenced by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) were found to be Omicron subvariants of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the Department of Health (DOH).
The DOH said 671 out of the 761 samples sequenced last February 27 were found to be under the Omicron variant and subvariants.
Among all the Omicron subvariants, 468 were classified as BA.2.3.20 with 460 local cases, 1 case classified as a returning overseas Filipino (ROF), while the seven others are still being verified.
There were also 149 tagged as XBB, including three XBB.1.5 cases. The DOH said 146 of the XBB cases are local cases while the other three patients are still being verified if they were local or ROF cases.
On the other hand, nine cases have been tagged as XBC, all of which are local cases.
The PGC report also showed eight cases classified as BA.5, with seven being local cases while the reminding one case is currently being verified. Of the eight cases, the DOH said six were classified as BQ.1
There were also four cases caused by BA.2.75, of which three were ROFs while the remaining one a local case.
Lastly, the genome sequencing results showed 33 samples tagged as other Omicron sublineages, while the other 90 samples have no assigned lineages.
