Contact tracing for Omicron subvariant continues

I LOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. pushed for the tracing of the contacts of t wo confirmed cases of t he Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 in this province.

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 the close contacts.

Based on the information the governor received, one of the two cases is still in the hospital.

The Department of Health ( DOH) identified the two cases as 69- and a 66-yearold males who were both fully vaccinated.

The 69- year- old patient has already recovered, leaving the younger patient still hospitalized in Iloilo City.

A situation report from the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit showed t hat as of May 18, t he province has 375 remaining active coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID- 19) cases out of its 42,048 total cumulative cases.

The average daily attack rate ( ADAR) f or every 100,000 i s al s o at . 11 percent.

D e f e n s o r s a i d t h e prov i ncial government i s preparing for another round of vaccination against COVID-19.

Based on data from the I l oilo Provincial Health Office, 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.