492 Omicron-variant positive cases came out from the 714 sequenced samples made from January 13-14, about 332 were tracked locally and 160 of these were from the returning overseas Filipinos, as reported by the Department of Health earlier of today.
The breakdown of the cases are as follows: (227) Metro Manila, (76) CALABARZON, (11) Central Luzon, (5) Central Visayas, (2) of each from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN, Cordillera Administrative Region, (1) of each from Ilocos Region, MIMAROPA, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
DOH further notes that about 3 cases of these are still active, 2 have succumbed to the newly-mutated variant, 467 have recovered, and about 20 cases are still being verified.
The sequenced sample reports also entail about 115 of it being the Delta variant (88 – local; 27-ROFs), and one local case from the prior Alpha variant.
“With the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the DOH urges the public to follow protective health protocols and adhere to minimum public health standards,” the health department further stated.
As of January 18, 2022, Palawan has detected its first Omicron case in El Nido, Palawan, a 26-year-old fully vaccinated patient that underwent an antigen test that turned out positive as recorded last 29th of December 2021.
The patient gave a negative result on their RT-PCR test which urged the local health representatives to call for genome sampling that was then sent to the national molecular facility, which in turn confirmed strains of the new Omicron variant.