ILOILO CITY – The Department of Health-Region 6 on Thursday, June 23 confirmed 21 cases of the Covid-19 Omicron BA.5 variant in Western Visayas.
Iloilo City had the majority of the Omicron BA.5 cases with 16, followed by Iloilo with four and one from Guimaras.
“We are closely coordinating with concerned local government units following the confirmation of the 21 cases,” said DOH-Region 6 Director Adriano Suba-an in a statement.
“Case profiling and investigation are currently being conducted in collaboration with the concerned provincial and city health offices to determine exposure, travel history, vaccination status, current health status, as well as contact tracing,” added Suba-an.
Initial information from the DOH-Region 6 said two of the cases had to be admitted to the hospital while 14 are under home quarantine.
Eleven of those infected have mild symptoms while the other five are asymptomatic.
Suba-an warned that Omicron BA.5 is more transmissible than the B.1.1.529 Omicron variant.