The Department of Health (DOH) recorded the country’s first case of the BA.2.12, described by some studies as the “more transmissible” Omicron subvariant, in a female traveler who had 44 close contacts—-30 while on a commercial flight going to Manila and 9 in Quezon City—-and 5 more during her stay in Benguet, the department revealed on Thursday, April 28.
In an earlier statement, DOH said the case is a 52-year-old female traveler from Finland who arrived in the country last April 2, went to a university in Quezon City, and took the road to Baguio thereafter.
“As to the close contacts, she had nine close contacts in Quezon City. She also had five close contacts in Benguet and all of them are being closely monitored. Some of them were tested already which turned out to be negative,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
Vergeire further said that most of the close contacts of the patient were already fully-vaccinated and have already tested negative for the virus.
Being asymptomatic and fully-vaccinated, the agency did not feel the need to require the traveler to undergo quarantine.
However, on her 8th day of stay in the country, April 10, the traveler began to show COVID-19 symptoms, hence, Vergeire believes that to consider the 14-day incubation period of the virus, it is likely that the traveler has been infected in her “home country” or during the flight to the Philippines.
The 52-year-old woman finished her seven-day isolation and has recovered, been discharged, and gone back to Finland on April 21.
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