Davao City Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said on Thursday Davao City is ready to face the new Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 saying the city will implement the same strategies in combating in case it enters the city.
The Department of Health (DOH), through its Centers for Health Development (CHDs), University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), University of the Philippines – National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), recently detected cases positive for BA.2.12.1.
The DOH Covid-19 surveillance system first detected BA.2.12.1 in two local cases from the National Capital Region (NCR) who had no international travel history and were from the same cluster. Both cases experienced mild symptoms and tested positive last April 22, 2022. They are asymptomatic and have completed home isolation. The cases have been fully vaccinated.
“Now, that we have that variant I can assure the public na prepared man gyud ang Davao City kasi we have already strategies in placed. Ang atong buhaton na lang is push button na lang kung unsa to applicable at the moment, magkaroon ta ug surge or magkaroon or naa tay spike of number of cases,” Schlosser said over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Wednesday.
The city health official reiterated that the city did not change its strategies and will continue using the PDITR+ (Prevent, Detect, Isolation, Treat, Reintegration plus vaccination).
“Wala nagbag-o ang atoang strategies ug wala tay gitanggal na mga Covid-19 response such as swabbing, quarantine and isolation, ang atong contact-tracing naa man gihapon and all of those are in line with our PDITR,” she said.
Schlosser also said that despite the heightened border control, new variants cannot be prevented from entering the country and the city as the disease is not visible; some of those infected have symptoms while others don’t; and those who manifest symptoms even hide it and don’t get themselves tested.
“Nag-anticipate nata ana (Omicron subvariant). I already told the public before that it’s just a matter of time whether unsa pa ta ka grabe sa atoang border control naa gyud makalusot ana because as I’ve mentioned before dili nato makita ang virus,” she said.
She added that the attributes of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 are still being studied by experts. And just like Omicron, it is highly transmissible.
“Diba ang Omicron halos gidoble nya tong other variants. Although less likely ang death atong Omicron, if you’re a part of the vulnerable sector high-risk gihapon ka. It’s very infectious, same lang gihapon. Pero ang transmission is preventable through wearing of face mask. That’s the reason why we still implement the minimum public health standard of the wearing of face masks,” she said.