Returning Filipino from Kenya is IIoilo's first Omicron case

Iloilo recorded its first case of the more contagious Omicron variant which involved  a 46-year-old seafarer from Kenya.

According to a report from GMA Regional TV One Western Visayas, the Iloilo City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit reported that the seafarer arrived in Cebu last December 16 but was negative for the virus.

On December 24, he arrived in Iloilo and underwent home quarantine.

Authorities said positive results came out on December 27, which prompted the seafarer to undergo a 14-day quarantine at an isolation facility.

He will remain at the facility while he will also undergo a repeat RT-PCR test. If he tests negative, he will be allowed to go out of the isolation center.

Meanwhile, contact tracing on the seafarer's contacts at the airport is also being done, lloilo City spokesman Jeck Conlu said.

"May manifest na tayo ng airline. Pinadala na natin ito sa airport at sa airline (company) para ma-identify ang mga nakatabi nito sa eroplano kung mga taga-saan sila at iba pang close contact kung mayroon man sa area ng airport," he said.

(We already informed the airline company to detect whether he had interacted with people at the airplane, where they are and if they have close contacts too.)

The Iloilo City government also issued stricter policy for inbound travelers following the incident.

Returning Filipinos and locally stranded individuals are mandated to submit travel documents to secure a travel permit.—LDF, GMA News