Contact tracing of Omicron subvariant cases continues

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. has pushed for the continuing tracing of possible contacts of two confirmed cases of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 in this province.

“We will just execute the contact tracing and execute the protocols under Alert Level 1,” he said in his regular press conference on Thursday, although he is yet to receive a report on the extent of the contact tracing that has been conducted.

He also pressed for the enforcement of several protocols such as isolation and conduct of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for possible close contacts.

Based on the information that he received, one of the two cases is still admitted and has yet to be confirmed if it is a mild or moderate case.

The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) in a statement on Tuesday identified the two cases as 69- and 66-year-old males, who are both fully vaccinated.

The 69-year-old patient has already recovered leaving the younger patient still admitted to a hospital in Iloilo City.

A situation report from the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit showed that as of May 18, the province has 375 remaining active cases out of its 42,048 total cumulative cases.

The average daily attack rate (ADAR) for every 100,000 is also at .11 percent.

Defensor said the provincial government is preparing for another round of vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) that will serve as its frontline strategy for “any surge that can happen in the near future like June”.

“We would like to intensify our vaccination not only for booster but for everybody. Not that we are putting less effort now but we just want to intensify what is already there,” he added.

Defensor said they wanted to add a feature to the vaccination program, maybe incentives, but refused to divulge as he is drafting an executive order for it.

Based on data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO), 71.78 percent or equivalent 1,209,116 of the 1,315, 489 target eligible population of the province are fully vaccinated and 208,694 have booster doses as of May 18. (PNA)