An unvaccinated seafarer from Kenya is the first recorded case of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Iloilo City.
Mayor Jerry Trenas confirmed over radio interview that the first case of omicron variant is a 46-year-old seafarer who came from Kenya and now is in a home quarantine in his residence at Sooc, Arevalo.
Based on the data of Iloilo City Epidemiology Surveilance Unit (CESU), he is unvaccinated and does not have any comorbidity.
CESU reported that the seafarer was negative in RT-PCR test when he departed from Kenya last December 14 via Qatar Airways and arrived in Cebu on December 15. He immediately went into hotel quarantine in Cebu and tested negative in another RT-PCR test on December 19.
He came home to Iloilo City on December 24, underwent strict home quarantine for three days and took RT-PCR test via Uswag Molecular Laboratory on December 27. The result came out positive for Covid-19.
According to Trenas, head of Uswag Molecular Laboratory Chiqui Blancaflor recommended that the result be forwarded to Philippine Genome Center for sequencing since the cycle threshold (CT) value is low. The genome sequencing result was released January 4, confirming that the seafarer is infected with Omicron variant.
He is now in the government’s quarantine facility in Sooc, Arevalo and does not have any symptoms.
Barangay Captain Ricardo Tugado of Sooc said that seafarer has no close contacts as he is living alone.
