A second Omicron case has been recorded in Western Visayas.
Mayor Jerry Treñas on Wednesday, January 5, said an unvaccinated 46-year-old male seafarer who arrived in Iloilo City on December 24 tested positive for the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
A Returning Overseas Filipino from the United States who arrived in Bacolod City on December 31 was also earlier reported to be positive for the variant.
Treñas said the Iloilo seafarer arrived in the Philippines from Kenya on December 16, and travelled to Iloilo City from Cebu on December 24.
He was home quarantined, and swabbed on the third day, December 27. His RT-PCR yielded a positive result, and he was transferred to a quarantine facility, Treñas said.
His specimen was then sent to the Philippine Genome Center and the result released January 4 showed that he is positive for the Omicron variant.
“We have already secured the patient in our quarantine facility. I have ordered a thorough investigation of the case so we can avert the possible spread of the Omicron variant in the city,” Treñas said.
Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said everyone should do their share to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases that could lead to the raising of the province’s alert level from two to three.
He reiterated the call for residents to get vaccinated and booster shots, and to observe health protocols.
Bacolod City breached its single digit mark with 16 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the Department of Health reported.
Negros Occidental had eight new cases, it added.*