The 45-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City, found positive for the Delta variant and four members of his family refused to be reswabbed for COVID-19 tests Tuesday, August 24, City Administrator Em Ang said.
Ang, who heads the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, said the EOC and the swab team will return to the house of the OFW Wednesday, accompanied by the police.
The OFW from Dubai, who had returned Bacolod Sunday after being hospitalized for 18 days in Manila, questioned why he had to be retested again, she said.
Meanwhile, the 6-month-old baby boy from Barangay Bata who tested positive for the Delta variant and his family tested negative for COVID-19, results released Tuesday night showed, Ang said.
The baby and family will be released from isolation, she said.
Dr. Adriano Suba-an, Department of Health (DOH) regional director, said patients who have been released from isolation prior to the detection of the Delta variant will be required to undergo immediate strict home quarantine pending a negative repeat RT-PCR test.
Any case whose repeat RT-PCR was positive shall remain in isolation. If repeat RT-PCR was negative and the case remained asymptomatic, the patient can be released from isolation/quarantine, he said.
The DOH recommends separate facilities for positive Delta cases and for their close contacts, Suba-an said.
FOUR VARIANTS
The DOH in Western Visayas has announced the detection of 72 new COVID-19 variant cases in Western Visayas, 14 of which were found in Bacolod City.
The new variants of concern cases that hit Western Visayas were 53 – Delta, 7 – Alpha and 12 Beta, he said.
A total of 23 Theta cases were detected in the region. Theta is classified as a variant of alert, Suba-an said.
The Delta variant has hit two Bacolod residents, Alpha – one, Beta – one and Theta – 10, Suba-an said.
Suba-an reminded local government units to conduct active case findings, aggressive contact tracing and testing, lower the interval between detection and isolation/quarantine, and to strengthen the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat and Reintegrate (PDITR) strategies.
Vaccination and strict adherence to the minimum public health standards are also important interventions in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 and its variants, he added.*