FLiRT detected in Phl, but COVID risk remains low

New COVID variants are causing the recent increase in cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

- RHODINA VILLANUEVA

The health department issued the statement after it was informed by the Philippine Genome Center that a new set of Omicron subvariants is present in the country.

“Recent sequencing data by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center confirmed this, with the identification of 30 cases of JN.1 and two each of JN.1.18 and KP.2,” the DOH said in a statement.

The agency said the earliest sample collection date for JN.1 in the Philippines was November 2023 and May 2024 for KP.2.

It said it was likely that there were earlier KP.2 cases in the country, but because of limited sequencing, it was not immediately detected and reported.

These Omicron subvariants form part of the variants under monitoring: JN.1.7, JN.1.18, KP.2 and KP.3, which are all descendants of JN.1.