Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has ordered heightened border controls after the city reported a case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Omicron variant involving a returning overseas Filipino (ROF), who arrived in the city on December 31, 2021.
Considered as recovered, the 38-year-old patient from Mindanao, a cruise ship worker who flew in from Miami, Florida, came to Bacolod to be with his wife, a native of Pampanga, who is working in a business process outsourcing firm.
“This is apparently not a local case. This is an imported one based on the accounts made by the Department of Health (DOH) and other experts. It so happened that his genome sequencing result came out late. Just the same, we have to take precautions,” Leonardia said in a statement, after an emergency meeting, on Monday night.
And while Leonardia told Bacolodnons there is no need to be alarmed, precautionary measures should still be taken.
He said the city government will have to strengthen border controls and residents should remain vigilant, get vaccinated or booster shots, observe minimum health protocol, and should not be complacent in the light of the uptick of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region that might spill over to the different provinces and regions.
Leonardia also held off any decision to restart the holding of limited face-to-face classes at Alangilan National High School.
The mayor also put on hold final decision on applications by a local college and a local university to begin face-to-face classes of their allied medical courses.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jane Juanico of DOH-6 yesterday informed Dr. Rosalie Deocampo of the Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) contact-tracing cluster that the ROF and his wife were made to complete the seven-day isolation period after which they can already be reintegrated with the community.
Juanico added that they will no longer be required to undergo another round of swab test.
Deocampo said the couple remains at the quarantine hotel and asymptomatic.
They were allowed two more extra days with their booking by the hotel management, which means the couple will be out by January 7 from their current accommodation.
“We are constantly in touch with the DOH through its regional office for guidance, although under the IATF guidelines, similar cases mandate a 10-day isolation period which they have already complied with,” she explained.
Deocampo said they will keep the public posted as soon as the national DOH has issued any advice whether to extend their isolation or allow them to already reintegrate with the community.
The Inter-Agency Task Force guidelines (IATF) guidelines allow for only 10 days of isolation for recovered patients, Deocampo emphasized, adding that the subject ROF “has already recovered and the people have nothing to worry about.”
The RT-PCR test result on Monday night of the ROF showed he was still COVID positive with a 36.7 cycle threshold, meaning he is no longer infectious, Deocampo said.
His wife’s result turned out negative, she added.
EOC-TF Executive Director Em Ang earlier said the ROF was fully-vaccinated and had also received his booster shot while still in the US. (With a report from PNA)/WDJ
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