MANILA, Philippines — The husband of the country’s fourth Omicron variant case has tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
“We have already traced the contacts of this person (fourth Omicron variant case). Her husband turned positive also. He is currently in an isolation facility and close contacts at home are isolated,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
Vergeire said health authorities have already collected a sample from the patient’s husband which will be subjected for genome sequencing to determine if he also has the Omicron variant.
The fourth Omicron variant case is a 38-year-old female traveler from the United States who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on December 10 via Philippine Airlines flight PR 127.
“Both wife and husband were tested on the same day and isolated upon release of a positive result. After 10-day isolation, both were discharged asymptomatic. They will be retested based on existing protocols,” Vergeire said in a Viber message to reporters.
“Sample of the husband has not been sent together with the wife to PGC (Philippine Genome Center) for sequencing. Husband’s sample will be processed now for sequencing,” she added.
The household members of the couple will also be tested for COVID-19, according to Vergeire.
Vergeire said the DOH already has the manifest of the Philippine Airlines PR 127 flight.
“The manifest is with us already. We are just trying to determine who among these passengers were in close contact with this individual,” Vergeire said.
The DOH said on Monday that the woman with the Omicron variant was quarantined upon arrival in the Philippines.
According to Vergeire, the woman and her husband came home together from the United States.
On December 13, the female patient had throat itchiness and colds. Her specimen was collected on December 14 and her positive COVID-19 test result was released on December 15.
The woman was discharged asymptomatic from an isolation facility after a 10-day quarantine on December 24 and is now undergoing home isolation.
She will be retested this Tuesday.