The World Health Organization (WHO) has reclassified the COVID-19 strain that originated from the Philippines as under "alert for further monitoring" from being a variant of interest, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
The P.3 variant is no longer called the Theta variant as it is now considered a "variant under alert for further monitoring," said Dr. Eva de la Paz, executive director of the National Health Institute, noting that it did not cause an increase in cases in a particular region.
Variants of interest or variants of concern can be reclassified if it "has conclusively demonstrated to no longer pose a major added risk to global public health compared to other circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants," WHO said.
Alerts for further monitoring are issued for COVID-19 variants "with genetic changes that are suspected to affect virus characteristics with some indication that it may pose a future risk, but evidence of phenotypic or epidemiological impact is currently unclear."
Those under alerts for further monitoring require “enhanced monitoring and repeat assessment pending new evidence," the WHO said.
Despite the reclassification, the DOH will continue to monitor the presence of the P.3 variant, which was first confirmed in the Philippines in March.
As of July 4, 2021, the Philippines has recorded 166 carriers of the P.3 variant in the country, according to data from the DOH.
Of these patients, two died, 163 recovered, while one patient is still battling the disease.
