Muntinlupa City’s active Covid-19 cases totaled five as of April 29, with one new case added, according to the City Health Office (CHO).
Tally from the CHO showed that one new Covid-19 case was added on April 29, bringing the total number of active cases to five from four on April 28.
Muntinlupa’s active and new cases have been on single-digit levels in the past week amid the detection of the first case of the more contagious BA.2.12 Omicron sub-variant in the country through a Finnish female who arrived on April 2 and traveled to Quezon City and Baguio.
The Department of Health (DOH) said the patient finished her seven-day isolation and has recovered and discharged. She returned to Finland on April 21.
As of April 29, Muntinlupa has 39,951 confirmed cases, 39,332 recoveries and 614 deaths to bring the total active cases to five.
Of the five active cases, two have been listed in Barangay Tunasan, two in Alabang and one in Cupang.
Six barangays in Muntinlupa are Covid-19-free: Poblacion, Putatan, Bayanan, Ayala Alabang, Buli and Sucat.
During the “Laging Handa” public briefing on April 29, Dr. Cynthia Saloma, executive director of the Philippine Genome Center, said the Finnish female could have acquired the virus during her travel to the Philippines.
“The chances are na dinala talaga niya particularly because the signature mutation ng variant na ito, iyong BA.2.12 is really widely circulating in Europe (Chances are she could have brought it particularly because the signature mutation of this variant, BA.2.12, is really widely circulating in Europe,” she said.
Saloma said the incubation period of the Omicron variant ranges from as short as 3.5 days to 14 days.
She said from the end of December up to present, the most dominant variant is Omicron not Delta. Among the Omicron variants, the BA.2.3 is the most dominant in the Philippines.
The latest sequencing results for March and April showed that 95 of the cases are BA.2.3 sub-lineage and “they are still called the Omicron because in terms of symptoms, pareho lang din po siya sa mga traditional Omicron or sa parental strain ng Omicron (they are still called the Omicron because in terms of symptoms, it is still the same as the traditional Omicron or the parental strain of Omicron).”
The Muntinlupa City government urged the public to still adhere to minimum public health standards such as wearing of face masks, and get vaccinated.