Close contacts of PH’s 1st Omicron subvariant case show no symptoms

FILE PHOTO A man getting swabbed for COVID-19. Image from OVP / Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — All close contacts of the country’s first case of the BA.2.12 Omicron subvariant have so far not manifested any COVID-19 symptoms, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Out of the 30 airplane close contacts of the Finnish woman who arrived in the Philippines on April 2, 25 were fully vaccinated, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

Two of them had a negative swab test result, she said.

Two others were partially vaccinated, one of whom had a negative swab test result.

There was one who was unvaccinated but that was a 7-year-old child whose guardian is fully vaccinated, Vergeire said.

Lastly, there were still two passengers whose inoculation status was being verified, she added.

“As of today, wala pong nakakaranas pa ng sintomas among all of these close contacts of this Finnish female,” she said in a media briefing.

(As of today, none of the close contacts of the Finnish female have symptoms.)

Meanwhile, other close contacts of the Omicron subvariant case in Quezon City and Baguio City “are “asymptomatic as of this time,” Vergeire said.

Two of those in Quezon City had negative test results.

The DOH said the Omicron subvariant case had 44 close contacts — nine in Quezon City, five in Benguet, and 30 while aboard the commercial flight going to Manila.

The country’s first case of the BA.2.12 Omicron subvariant was a 52-year-old Finnish woman who arrived from Finland on April 2.

The DOH earlier said the woman traveled to a university in Quezon City and in Baguio to conduct seminars.

It added that the woman tested negative in her pre-departure test in Finland. The woman, who was fully vaccinated, was allowed entry to the Philippines because she initially did not show symptoms.

However, she began to show COVID-19 symptoms on April 10. The DOH said that considering the 14-day incubation period of the virus, it is possible that the woman got infected in her home country or during her travel to the Philippines.

According to the DOH, the woman finished her seven-day isolation, has recovered and was already discharged, adding that the woman returned to Finland on April 21.

RELATED STORY:
DOH: PH’s first Omicron subvariant case a fully vaxxed, asymptomatic person

EDV