The Health’ Department confirmed local transmission of the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2.12.1 subvariant of Covid-19 in the South-East Asian country.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that local clusters of the BA.2.12.1 variant infection have been detected in Metro Manila, the Western Visayas region in the central Philippines, and Puerto Princesa city in Palawan.

The Philippines has detected 17 BA.2.12.1 cases so far.

“Now that we have local transmission of Omicron BA.2.12.1, we must act fast,” Vergeire said.

She said there is no community transmission yet in the country.

Studies have showed that BA.2.12.1 is highly transmissible due to additional mutations than the original Omicron strain. While this sublineage has not been observed to lead to more severe disease or fatality, it has the potential for immune escape.

 - Xinhua