The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed Tuesday the local transmission of the BA.2.12.1 Omicron sub-variant.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the local transmission of the new Omicron sub-variant is taking place in Metro Manila, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, and Western Visayas. 

“This means that the detected BA.2.12.1 cases have no connections to imported cases. But we still see the linkages among the detected cases,” Vergeire said in a briefing.

“There is still no community transmission. We are still further verifying and analyzing with regard to this community transmission,” she added.

The DOH official said the agency and local government units are now responding to the local transmission of the new sub-variant.

The DOH and the concerned local government units (LGUs) are now conducting response operations following the government’s established 4-Door Strategy.

The department also announced the detection of three new cases of the BA.2.12.1 Omicron sub-variant in Western Visayas. Last week, it reported that 14 cases of the Omicron sub-variant were detected in Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa.

Health authorities have so far detected 17 BA.2.12.1 cases in the country.