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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Very high' possibility of Omicron subvariant BA.5 local transmission in PH

'Very high' possibility of Omicron subvariant BA.5 local transmission in PH

Published Jun 4, 2022 02:07 pm

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The Department of Health (DOH) said there is a “very high” possibility that the Omicron subvariant BA.5 is now being transmitted locally, following the detection of two cases recently.

The detection of two cases in Central Luzon, who have no travel history abroad, raises the “index of suspicion” that there is already local transmission of this Omicron subvariant, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

“There are two individuals already dito sa komunidad na ito, at atin pong tinitingnan pa rin. We are trying to trace kung meron pang iba na mayroong ganito (There are two individuals already (who were found positive with this variant] in this particular community, and we are still looking into it. We are trying to trace if there are other cases),” she said on Saturday, June 4.

“Kapag nagkakaroon na kasi tayo ng tao na nadedetekta natin ng ganitong variant dito sa ating community, the possibility that the transmission is local is very high kasi wala po silang outside the country na travel (When we detect people infected with this kind of variant in a community, the possibility that the transmission is local is very high because they don't have travel history outside the country),” she added.

In an advisory, the DOH clarified the difference between local and community transmission.

Local transmission means that "detected cases got infected from a local (domestic) source of infection, without any linkage to international sources outside of the country," the DOH said.

Community transmission means that there is already a "large number of cases (or clusters of cases) being detected, most of which cannot be linked anymore with existing cases."

On Friday, Vergeire reported the country's first two cases of BA.5. Both cases were from the same household in Central Luzon. They were already fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19. The cases were already tagged as recovered.

The DOH identified two close contacts. One of them tested positive for Covid-19. The two close contacts are still undergoing isolation.

Related Tags

BA.5 LOCAL TRANSMISSION Department of Health (DOH) omicron subvariant Maria Rosario Vergeire community transmission
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