The Department of Health has detected the country’s first case of FE.1 subvariant of the COVID-19 Omicron strain.
The lone case of the XBB sublineage was recorded through genome sequencing on 2,340 samples conducted from May 29 to June 12.
“Currently available evidence for the variant does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant. Limited information is available for the variant and researchers are currently characterizing FE.1 in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease,” the DOH said in its latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report.
The Health Department said the subvariant was initially flagged “for its increasing global prevalence.”
FE.1 has been detected in 35 countries or jurisdictions across six continents.
It was classified as a variant under monitoring by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC).
A VUM refers to a variant with “genetic changes that are suspected to affect virus characteristics and early signals of growth advantage relative to other circulating variants.”
Meanwhile, data from the independent monitoring group OCTA Research showed that the positivity rate in the National Capital Region further eased to 7.3% over the weekend from 11.6% from the previous week.
Positivity rates likewise dropped in Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Isabela, La Union, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal, Tarlac, and Zambales over the same period.
It, however, increased in Palawan and Pangasinan.
Across Luzon, the positivity rate was recently seen the highest in Isabela at 29.2%, and lowest in the NCR.