IN CASE OF ANOTHER SURGE. The local government of Baguio City on Thursday (April 28, 2022) says it is ready in case of another surge, following the country's first reported case of the Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 of the coronavirus disease 2019 in the summer capital. City information office chief Aileen Refuerzo said the city is ensuring that systems are in place to combat any surge similar to that of the Delta and Omicron variants in 2021 and the first month of 2022, respectively. (PNA file photo)
BAGUIO CITY – The local government here on Thursday said it is prepared in case another surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases occurs following the country's first reported case of the Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 in the city.
Aileen Refuerzo, chief information officer of the city, said the city government still enforces its "prevent, detect, isolate, treat, reintegrate" (PDITR) strategies even if some response operations had been scaled down in the past weeks after cases tapered off starting February.
"All systems are in place and we have our contingency plan as we did for the Delta and Omicron waves,” Refuerzo said.
She also quoted Mayor Benjamin Magalong as saying during a meeting of the city executives: "We are hopeful that the expected surge will not happen but just in case, we are confident that we can handle it as efficiently as we did during the delta and omicron variants."
On Wednesday, the Department of Health confirmed that the first case of Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 in the country was detected in Baguio City.
Omicron BA.2.12 is the subvariant triggering case surges in the US and South Korea.
Refuerzo said that information reaching the city government showed that the patient was a 52-year-old female from Finland with known comorbidity of hypertension.
Information provided shows that the patient arrived in the country on April 2, went to Baguio on April 7, started exhibiting symptoms on April 10, and got her Covid-19 positive test result on April 11.
On April 12, the patient was admitted to a hospital with an initial diagnosis of Hypertension Stage II Covid-19 infection and was discharged on April 18. On April 20, 2022, the patient traveled back to Finland.
Her infection was confirmed as Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 in the April 23 report of the Philippine Genome Center.
All her close contacts had been identified, quarantined, and tested, she shared.
Although BA.2.12 is not considered a major threat, residents are urged to continue exercising caution by observing public health standards and getting vaccinated and boosted. (PNA)
Aileen Refuerzo, chief information officer of the city, said the city government still enforces its "prevent, detect, isolate, treat, reintegrate" (PDITR) strategies even if some response operations had been scaled down in the past weeks after cases tapered off starting February.
"All systems are in place and we have our contingency plan as we did for the Delta and Omicron waves,” Refuerzo said.
She also quoted Mayor Benjamin Magalong as saying during a meeting of the city executives: "We are hopeful that the expected surge will not happen but just in case, we are confident that we can handle it as efficiently as we did during the delta and omicron variants."
On Wednesday, the Department of Health confirmed that the first case of Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 in the country was detected in Baguio City.
Omicron BA.2.12 is the subvariant triggering case surges in the US and South Korea.
Refuerzo said that information reaching the city government showed that the patient was a 52-year-old female from Finland with known comorbidity of hypertension.
Information provided shows that the patient arrived in the country on April 2, went to Baguio on April 7, started exhibiting symptoms on April 10, and got her Covid-19 positive test result on April 11.
On April 12, the patient was admitted to a hospital with an initial diagnosis of Hypertension Stage II Covid-19 infection and was discharged on April 18. On April 20, 2022, the patient traveled back to Finland.
Her infection was confirmed as Omicron variant sub-lineage BA.2.12 in the April 23 report of the Philippine Genome Center.
All her close contacts had been identified, quarantined, and tested, she shared.
Although BA.2.12 is not considered a major threat, residents are urged to continue exercising caution by observing public health standards and getting vaccinated and boosted. (PNA)
