MANILA — The Philippines need not worry about the threat of XBB.1.5, which is believed to be the most contagious COVID-19 strain to date, the country's top health official said Friday.

The XBB.1.5, a variant of the globally-dominant omicron, is rapidly spreading in the US. The Philippines has yet to detect a case of XBB.1.5.

"For whatever variant that will come in the country, as long as our people knows how to protect themselves through vaccination and through the compliance to minimum public health standard, we need not worry," Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

Citing report from the World Health Organization, Vergeire said the XBB.1.5 had become the most transmissible variant detected so far.

The UN health agency doesn’t have any data yet on the severity of XBB.1.5.

For example, XBB.1.5 cases in the US were estimated at 4 percent in the first week of December, Vergeire said. But it increased to 40 percent in the last week of December.

• Philippines has 17.4 million COVID-19 vaccines in stock

In the forum, the DOH disclosed that COVID-19 cases in the country are "continuously going down".

The Philippines is now averaging 426 COVID-19 cases daily, which is 28 percent lower compared to the past week, Vergeire said.

The country's positivity rate has also declined to 6.6 percent from 8.8 percent last week, she added.

The healthcare utilization, meanwhile, remains at low risk across all regions.

As of January 5, the country has 11,779 active COVID-19 cases.

• DOH identifies 89 close contacts of 8 COVID-positive Filipinos from China

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