By Katrina Gracia Consebido
The Department of Health (DOH)confirmed on Tuesday, May 17, the local transmission of the highly transmissible Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1.
During the DOH media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed that there are 17 total BA.2.12.1 cases in the country, of which 16 are local cases and one returning overseas Filipino residing in Western Visayas.
Of the 16 local cases, two are from Metro Manila, 12 are from Puerto Princesa City, and two are from Western Visayas.
Local transmission is declared when “local cases have been detected which cannot be epidemiologically linked to cases with significant international travel history.”
Vergeire urged health facilities and local government units to look for active cases and immediately isolate suspected persons who have COVID-19 symptoms.
“Now that we have local transmission of Omicron BA.2.12.1, we must act fast. We are asking our health facilities and local government units to actively look for cases. Immediate isolation is advised for any person who has fever, cough, colds, sore or itchy throat, and other COVID-like signs and symptoms,” Vergeire said in a media release.
“Testing using RT-PCR is strongly advised during active surveillance as the method also allows for genomic sequencing. Large clusters should be prioritized for investigation, and contact tracing for cases belonging to these clusters should be conducted,” she added.
The DOH reiterated that the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 is highly contagious due to its additional mutations compared with the original Omicron variant.
“While this sublineage has so far not been observed to lead to more severe disease or fatality, it has the potential for immune escape, the DOH said. – ag