BAGUIO RECORDS 1 OMICRON BA.2.12 CASE

Baguio City has recorded one case of Omicron variant sub-lineage BA 2.12, Mayor Benjamin confirmed today April 27, 2022.

The patient is a 52-year-old female from Finland with known co-morbidity of hypertension.

She arrived in the country on April 2 and to Baguio on April 7.

She started exhibiting symptoms on April 10 and got her positive test result on April 11.

On April 12, case was admitted in a hospital with an initial diagnosis of Hypertension Stage II COVID infection and was discharged on April 18.

On April 20, 2022, the patient traveled back to Finland.

Her infection was confirmed as Omicron variant sublineage BA.2.12 in the April 23 report of the Phil. Genome Center.

Omicron BA.2.12 is the subvariant triggering case surges in the US and South Korea.

Its presentation is not much different from the omicron BA.2 that caused the surge in the Philippines early this year.

According to experts, it is 20% more transmissible than BA.2 but is not considered a major threat.

Mayor Magalong and City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo assured that the city is prepared in case of a surge.

“All systems are in place and we have our contingency plan like we did for the delta and omicron waves,” they said.

All close contacts had been identified, quarantined and tested.

Although BA. 2.12 is not considered a major threat, residents are urged to observe caution by observing public health standards and getting vaccinated and boosted. – Aileen P. Refuerzo