Western Visayas has already recorded its first cases of the more infectious omicron variant of COVID-19 in conjunction with preparations in other regions on the possible kick-off of disease cases.
On Tuesday, Bacolod City recorded the first omicron case in Western Visayas in a 38-year-old returning overseas Filipino who immigrated to the city.
The male crew of a cruise ship is from America and went to his wife who works in Bacolod.
It was found out that the man arrived in the country on December 15, testing positive for COVID-19 on his 5th day of quarantine.
He completed the mandatory isolation and quarantine requirements in Manila and tested negative in the RT-PCR test before flying to Bacolod City.
According to the Bacolod city government, this is not a local case, and it just so happened that the genome sequencing result came out late in the male sample.
When the man underwent the RT-PCR test while in Bacolod, his result was positive again for COVID-19.
The swab test result of the wife of the omicron case is now awaited.
The second Omicron case in the region was recorded in Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Treñas said Wednesday.
According to the report of Treñas, the patient was a 46-year-old seafarer from Arevalo, Iloilo City.
The seafarer arrived in Cebu on December 15 and tested positive for the RT-PCR test on the 5th day of quarantine.
Western Visayas records first Omicron cases
The seafarer ended his quarantine and returned to Iloilo City on Christmas Eve.
But on December 27, the seafarer tested positive for COVID-19 again. The genome sequencing result came out Tuesday night, which showed he was positive for the omicron variant.
The man is now in the city’s quarantine facility, which is asymptomatic.
Meanwhile, the Davao City government is preparing if the number of COVID-19 cases rises again in their area.
According to Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, quarantine facilities and hospitals in the city are being prepared.
He also said that the COVID-19 cluster clinic is open to offering 24-hour assistance to all COVID concerns, such as free swabbing, contact tracing, consultation, treatment, and quarantine.
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