Davao COVID-19 task force: ‘It’s a matter of time before XBB, XBC reach city’

BUKIDNON, Philippines – The Davao City Task Force on COVID-19 appealed to the city’s residents to get vaccine booster shots as they warned that the newly detected Omicron sub-variant XBB and variant XBC would soon reach and infect people in the city.  

Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the spokesperson of the task force, said, “It is just a matter of time. The provinces with cases of these new variants are just close by. Residents in those areas can freely travel, and with the restrictions lifted, we wouldn’t know if those we mingle with may be carrying these variants already,” Schlosser said over the city government-run Davao City Disaster Radio on Wednesday, October 19. 

While the vaccines and booster shots don’t guarantee COVID-19 immunity, these could cushion the effects of infections and give the infected more fighting chances, she said. 

“Getting the jab is the key to avoiding the worst that could happen to the persons infected with COVID-19,” Schlosser said. 

Schlosser cited her relative who caught the virus – she was symptomatic but recovered despite her diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. 

Local officials expressed alarm about the COVID-19 positivity rate in Davao City which rose to a daily average of 18% to 20%, with a single-day high of 22%, compared to the October 8-15 period. 

The city’s campaign to get the vaccinated to get boosted remained to be a challenge to health officials and workers.

“We only have 24.07% of the target population for the first booster doses and 5.50% of the target population for the second booster shots. Worse, those in the vulnerable sectors are not getting it,” Schlosser said. 

This week, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the detection of the COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant XBB and variant XBC in the country. 

Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire said 61 XBB and 71 XBC infections were detected in the tests conducted from October 15-17.

XBB was reported as the cause of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Singapore. But although an initial study shows that it has a higher immune evasion ability than the COVID-19 BA.5 variant, there was no sufficient evidence that it causes severe illnesses. 

In the country, XBB infections were detected in Western Visayas with 60 cases, and another one in the Davao Region. Of the cases, eight are still active, and most of those infected recovered. 

Twenty previously detected Omicron cases were reclassified as XBB, bringing to 81 the number of XBB cases in the country.

The DOH said 71 XBC cases were also confirmed in Region 12 with 38 cases, Davao Region with 27 cases, Western Visayas with five cases, and one in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). 

At least five of those who got infected with the XBC variant died. – Rappler.com