ILOILO – Three more cases of Omicron XBB.1.16 or the “Arcturus” coronavirus subvariant were detected in Western Visayas, according to the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday.
This brings the total number of Arcturus cases to four in the region and in the country.
Based on DOH’s latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report, the three new cases were logged from April 26 to May 6.
It is still unclear from which provinces of the region the new cases came from.
Their status remains undetermined as there is still an ongoing case investigation with concerned local government units.
The country’s first Arcturus case was also from Region 6, particularly from Iloilo province.
The patient was a 16-year-old female and was admitted at Western Visayas Medical Center.
The Arcturus subvariant is a sublineage of the Omicron, which has the ability to evade immunity and is said to be more transmissible, according to the DOH.
XBB.1.16 is spreading around the world and has been detected in 33 countries.
DOH said the current available evidence for XBB.1.16 “does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant.”
“Researchers are currently characterizing the variant in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease,” the health department added.
The World Health Organization earlier flagged it as a new variant of interest because of the increasing number of cases./PN
