DOH Says South African Travelers In PH Tested Negative For New Omicron Variant
SOUTH AFRICAN TRAVELERS – After several days of contact tracing, the Department of Health (DOH) finally tested all travelers from South African who visited the Philippines.
Of the 200 travelers, not a single one tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. During the Health Department’s public briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said:
As of December 9, meron po tayong lumabas na resulta ng whole genome sequencing. Unang una, gusto natin ipaalam sa ating mga kababayan there was no sample positive for the Omicron variant
Currently, the DOH has been keeping tabs on 253 travelers coming from South Africa. These travelers landed in the Philippines between November 15 to 29.
This was before the country placed a travel ban on countries present with the new Omicron variant. Initially, 8 of the 253 travelers were missing.
But, the government managed to trace their whereabouts despite several challenges. However, one of the travelers was positive for the B.1.1.203 COVID-19 variant.
Hindi siya Omicron. Hindi rin siya isa mga variant na binabantayan natin sa bansa at hindi variant of concern o variant of interest, said Vergeire.
Additionally, two Overseas Filipino Workers returning to the country are still unaccounted for. As of writing, the local government units of the address they provided are conducting contact tracing initiatives.
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