MANILA – The Philippines has recorded its first two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in two travellers from Nigeria and Japan respectively, Xinhua reported the Health Department (DoH) as saying today.
DoH said the Nigerian national arrived in Manila on November 30 via an Oman Air flight, while the Filipino returning from overseas arrived on December 1 via Philippine Airlines from Japan.
The two Omicron-positive individuals are now isolated in a facility managed by the Bureau of Quarantine. The Filipino had symptoms of a cold and was coughing upon arrival, DoH said.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters that one traveller is fully vaccinated, while the other is not.
DoH is determining possible close contacts among co-passengers during the flights of these two cases.
“DoH is verifying the test results and health status of all passengers of these flights to determine if there are other confirmed cases or passengers who became symptomatic after arrival,” DoH added.
DoH said the two Omicron variant cases were detected from 48 samples sequenced yesterday.
With the detection of the variant, DoH urged people to adhere to the minimum public standards and properly wear face masks, wash hands frequently, observe physical distancing, ensure proper ventilation, and avoid crowded areas.
“In this holiday season, the public should avoid holding mass gatherings to curb the transmission of Covid-19,” the DoH advisory said, urging unvaccinated individuals to get their jabs.
The Philippines has recorded over 2.8 million confirmed Covid-19 cases currently, including 50,351 deaths. – Bernama, December 15, 2021
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