By Alec Go
The Department of Health (DOH) announced Wednesday afternoon the detection of the country’s first case of the highly transmissible BA.2.12 Omicron subvariant in Baguio City.
In an April 27 agency release, the DOH said the patient is a fully vaccinated asymptomatic 52-year-old Finnish female who arrived from Finland last April 2 who did not undergo routine isolation at a quarantine facility.
“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 tested positive for COVID-19 the following day, and nine asymptomatic close contacts were identified including two individuals who tested negative for the disease.
The case was discharged after completing her seven-day isolation and was tagged recovered. She left the country on April 21.
The BA.2.12 subvariant is a sublineage of the Omicron variant flagged by the United States Center for Disease Control amid increasing COVID-19 cases in the country from two weeks ago.
“Preliminary data have shown that their mutations are associated with higher transmissibility. However, there is currently no evidence that these sublineages cause more severe disease,” the DOH said.
Noting that BA.2.12 is not considered a variant of interest and variant of concern, the DOH renewed its call to the public to continue practicing public health standards to prevent transmission.
It also assured that the country’s surveillance system is effective in detecting new cases and in characterizing their lineage. – gb
