BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The provincial government is raising its guard up against the Omicron (B.1.1.529 ) variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Three South African expats who arrived in Negros Occidental last week were quarantined.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the three were quarantined in the towns of Calatrava and Manapla and in the city of La Carlota.
Two of the expats arrived on Nov. 25, while the other on Nov. 26, according to Diaz.
South Africa was only declared under the “Red List” by the national government on Nov. 27.
The three were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Diaz said.
They were also negative for COVID-19 based on their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results.
Diaz said they would be re-swabbed after five days.
He said the province stepped up monitoring of inbound travelers from “Red List” countries like Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and The Netherlands, among others.
The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa on Nov. 24 and was declared a variant of concern on Nov. 26 by the World Health Organization.
The newly-discovered variant is described to be “heavily mutated,” and studies are still being carried out on how it behaves compared to other variants./PN
