THE DAVAO Center for Health Development confirms the detection of five Omicron (B.1. 1.529) variants of concern, including one from Davao City, from the 35 specimens sent to the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC).
Based on the statement of the DOH XI, the five Omicron cases have already recovered upon the release of the Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) report. Three of these cases were Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF) while the other two have no history of any travel outside the country.
Case #1.
A 23-year-old male ROF, who was swabbed at the Philippine Red Cross Clark Molecular Laboratory. The sample was collected on Dec. 18, 2021. He is now in his residence in Davao del Sur.
Case #2.
A 27-year-old female ROF, who arrived from Singapore last Dec. 18, 2021. The sample was collected last Dec. 21 and was processed at the SPMC Molecular Laboratory. She has fully recovered last Jan. 2, 2022. She is a resident of Davao City.
Case #3.
A 44-year-old male, fully vaccinated, an ROF who arrived from the United Kingdom last Dec. 22, 2021. He completed his 14-day isolation in Manila before traveling to Davao Region. His sample was collected last Dec. 26, 2021, and was processed at First Aide Diagnostic Center in NCR. He is a resident of Davao del Norte.
Case #4.
A 28-year-old female, fully vaccinated, a local resident of Davao Occidental with no history of international travel. She was swabbed for RTPCR testing last Dec. 11 and the specimen was processed at SPMC Molecular Laboratory. Her specimen was sent to UP-PGC last December 23, 2021.
Case #5.
A 63-year old male, fully vaccinated, a local resident of Davao Occidental with no history of international travel. She was swabbed for RTPCR testing last Dec. 16, 2021, and the specimen was processed at SPMC Molecular Laboratory. His specimen was sent to UP-PGC last Dec. 23, 2021.
The DOH Davao is closely working with the concerned local government units to conduct intensive case investigation to ensure that the isolation period was completed, and all close contacts were adequately identified and completed quarantine. Re-testing will be done but re-quarantine is no longer necessary unless the case is symptomatic upon location. For the respective LGUs of the non-OFW cases, they are currently investigating to determine their exposures and travel histories.
To date, a total of 4,564 specimen samples from the Davao Region were sent to UP-PGC for WGS.
With the detection of the imported cases of Omicron variant, the Department of Health Davao Center for Health Development urges everyone to put their guards up against COVID-19 and follow the safety protocols.
