BAGUIO CITY, PHILIPPINES — The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported on Wednesday that the country has had its first case of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.

The case involved a 52-year-old female tourist who came from Finland on April 2, according to the DOH.

The Department of Health stated the patient had been to a university in Quezon City and then to Baguio City for seminars. She started to experience mild symptoms such as a headache and sore throat nine days after arriving in the country.

The local epidemiology and surveillance team undertook contact tracing after finding the confirmed case, according to the DOH, and found nine asymptomatic close contacts. Two of them tested and came up negative.

After she completed seven days of isolation, the case was marked as recovered. On April 21, she returned to her homeland. 

This is the first time a BA 2.12 case has been reported in this part of the country. 

Scientists are presently studying the transmissibility of these Omicron sublineages and whether they can produce more serious diseases. Their mutations have been linked to greater transmissibility, according to preliminary findings.

However, there is no indication that these sublineages cause more serious diseases at this time.

Omicron BA.2.12 is not identified as a variation of interest or concern by the World Health Organization. According to the initial study, BA.2.12 is 20% more transmittable than BA.2, the most common subvariant of Omicron in the Philippines and the rest of the world.

“The public can avoid all variants, whether new or currently circulating, by continuing to wear the best-fitting masks, isolate when sick, double-up protection through vaccination and boosters, and ensure good airflow,”  DOH said

COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed in approximately 3.68 million in the Philippines, with 60,215 deaths.  – WhatALife!

Source: (rappler.com)

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