In an online briefer Tuesday, June 21, city Mayor Oscar Moreno read the profile of the 38-year-old male seafarer – who was also reported as the first positive case of Omicron subvariant BA.5 here – and stated that the seafarer had already been infected with the virus when he arrived in the city and went for home quarantine.
“May 19, he (seafarer) got infected again in Makati, and then he went home in Cagayan de Oro and he is positive. Although he stayed at home, he informed the BHERT of Bugo. He is positive,” Moreno said in the vernacular.
“And then, on May 27, he was given a quarantine certificate by his BHERT. Now, why is it given and who gave it? That’s the big question mark,” he added.
The city chief executive explained that the certificate of quarantine is far different from the certified recovery.
Meanwhile, CHO medical officer Dr. Teodoro Yu Jr. said in an online briefer Wednesday, June 22, that his office is currently communicating with the Bugo BHERT as part of the ongoing investigation to resolve the issue.
In his response, Bugo BHERT leader Noli Yagao, who gave the certificate of quarantine to the seafarer, in a phone interview Wednesday, June 22, said that he issued the certificate as proof of completing the seven days home quarantine.
Yagao clarified that he issued the certificate as he had not received any report from the CHO confirming that the seafarer has been positive for Covid-19.
“If he (seafarer) has a positive result (of Covid), then Manila should report it to the city. We have not received any report. It was too late already when we knew that he was positive. We had issued him the certificate because we had not received a report that he is positive,” Yagao explained in vernacular.
The BHERT leader also clarified that the seafarer did not inform them that he is positive for the virus. Yagao stressed they will not issue a quarantine certificate if the person is infected as they are aware of the protocol.
The Omicron-subvariant positive, Yagao said, did not undergo re-swabbing as they only tested individuals under quarantine infected by the virus.
Yagao said that he was a little shocked when he was told by a representative from the CHO that they need to call the office before issuing the certificate of quarantine which is different from the usual.
“(According to) the protocol, we will wait for the city (health office) because they are the ones who will forward the report so that we can do monitoring. And now, after what happened, it has been changed. They said that we need to call them if there’s a seaman who will ask for a certificate for the confirmation,” Yagao said.
Yu clarified that the CHO would not impose legal action as they need to wait for the recommendation from the investigating team.
“The investigation is ongoing. Probably, we will give an update the soonest once we have the update from the field,” Yu said. “We will look at what the recommendations are. We cannot immediately take legal action if we still don’t have the recommendation and findings from our team,” Yu added.
The seafarer was the first Omicron subvariant BA.5 detected in Northern Mindanao.