Health officials said Wednesday they have detected the first case of the more transmissible Omicron variant BA.2.12 in Baguio City.
The new sublineage BA.2.12 was detected in a 52-year-old Finnish female who arrived from Finland on April 2, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
The department said she was not required to undergo routine isolation at a quarantine facility since she was fully vaccinated and arrived asymptomatic.
“The case then traveled to a university in Quezon City and then to Baguio City to conduct seminars. Nine days after her arrival in the country, she experienced mild symptoms such as headache and sore throat,” the DOH said.
She then tested positive for COVID-19 through an RT-PCR test.
Nine asymptomatic close contacts were identified. Two of them were tested and found to be negative.
The DOH said the Finnish national finished her seven-day isolation and has recovered and been discharged and returned to her home country on April 21.
The new omicron subvariants may cause a surge of 5,000 to 10,000 new cases daily, the independent OCTA Research Group said.
The BA.4 and BA.5 caused a surge in South Africa while the BA.2.12 is behind the increase in cases in New Delhi, and the BA.2.12.1 comprised 90 percent of cases in the US, OCTA fellow Guido David said.
“We might see 5,000 to 10,000 cases per day but nowhere near the 40,000 cases we saw back in January but of course, that is still subject to change because we’re still monitoring the trends in India and US,” David told ANC’s Headstart.
He said the cases would probably be mild for those vaccinated against COVID-19.
President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his call to the public to comply with the minimum public health standards in polling places on the May 9 polls, as he raised the alarm over a possible COVID-19 surge.
The President issued the call in his Talk to the People, after the OCTA Research and the Department of Health reported separately that COVID-19 infections may increase after the elections.
Duterte noted that the country has not yet achieved herd immunity and reiterated that vaccination is necessary to put an end to the pandemic, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 55,000 people in the Philippines.
“Remember when you go to the electoral precincts, kindly tell yourself that you have to remember the things that the government wants you to follow so we would not have much trouble and we will prevent another surge,” he said.
Meanwhile, a medical adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said the gradual rise in COVID-19 cases in some areas may be due to political rallies for the elections.
“There is a gradual increase in some areas under Alert Level 1, possibly due to the rallies,” said Dr. Ted Herbosa, speaking in Filipino.
Herbosa also said the increased mobility of people is a big factor in the uptick of cases in some areas, as reported by the DOH.
The DOH earlier reported seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in 14 areas under Alert Level 1 after the Catholic observance of Holy Week, amid the Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan, and the ongoing political campaigns.
Herbosa encouraged people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to stay at home and avoid going to public areas.
Herbosa said health care workers and hospitals are prepared in case another COVID-19 surge takes place after May 9 elections, and dismissed the possibility of imposing another lockdown.
“We will only impose a lockdown if our health care system collapses. But since our vaccination rate is high, I am confident that like what happened during the Omicron surge, we will be able to overcome the next surge,” he said.
The DOH earlier said that a 50 percent decrease in the compliance of minimum public health standards in the National Capital Region may result in 25,000 to 60,000 new COVID-19 cases per day by mid-May.
The Philippines on Tuesday logged another record-low new COVID-19 infections at 123, bringing the nationwide tally to 3,684,835.
The active cases also further decreased to 11,580, the lowest since Dec. 30, 2021.
A total of 3,613,060 people have been counted as recoveries, while the death toll climbed to 60,195.