The Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday that two new sub-variants of the more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 BA.4 and BA.5, should not be a concern.
The World Health Organization (WHO) previously reported that they were monitoring several dozen cases of the two new sub-variants of Omicron to determine if it was easily contagious and dangerous.
According to the WHO, BA.4 and BA.5 are “sister” variants of the original BA.1 Omicron variant, already included in their monitors.
It is also monitored by BA.1 and BA.2 — which are globally dominant today — and BA.1.1 and BA.3.
“Although there have been detected cases in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Denmark and the UK, this should not be any cause of concern,” DOH statement to journalists in Viber message.
“There are also early indications that these new sub-lineages are increasing as a share of genomically confirmed cases in South Africa. There are currently no reported spike in cases, admissions, or deaths in South Africa,” it added.
The UK Health Security Agency reported that BA.4 was seen in South Africa, Denmark, Botswana, Scotland, and England from 10 January to 30 March.
Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 should not be a concern-DOH
All BA.5 cases were in South Africa until this past week. But on Monday, Botswana’s health ministry said they had identified four cases BA.4 and BA.5.
All are said to be aged 30-50, fully vaccinated, and experiencing mild symptoms.
According to the Health Department, no such sub-variant has been reported in the latest sequencing run this April.
“However, as of the latest run, we have yet to detect the recombinant variant Omicron XE or any other recombinant variant for that matter,” said DOH.
According to the WHO, XE is a combination of BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants of Omicron.
Meanwhile, DOH warned that waning compliance with pandemic guidelines might increase active coronavirus infections to about half a million by the middle of May.
DOH reported a 12-percent drop in Metro Manila’s compliance with minimum public health standards (MPHS) from March to April. According to the agency, this figure stood at 7% nationwide.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.