'Omicron possibly entered Baguio'- Mayor Magalong

Baguio City, Philippines – The highly transmissible Omicron variant might have already entered Baguio based on the trend in cases and pattern of illness and symptoms seen in most Covid-19 patients in the city.

City Mayor Benjamin Magalong stated this during the weekly Ugnayan Panlungsod press briefing on Jan. 4.

“Looking at the symptoms, yung mga a pinsan ko sa US [na may Omicron], pare-pareho na ng symptoms. And look at the cases, marami tayong cases ngayon. All indications point that we have now Omicron in the city of Baguio,” Magalong said.

Omicron variant which is known to be highly infectious than the Delta variant have caused a new spike in cases in the country especially in the virus epicenter Metro Manila.

Since the first reported local case of Omicron variant in the country on December 3 and more imported cases on December 15, cases of the virus began to spread in parts of the National Capital Region.

Though Baguio City has tightened up border restrictions anew amid the reported Omicron variant in Manila in late December, 2021, the city continues to accept a limited number of tourists. Most visitors, according to the city’s VISITA app, are from NCR where cases of the variant of concern are on the rise.

On January 13, the city recorded 516 cases, the highest case tally so far since Sept. 18, 2021. Most of the patients are asymptomatic and moderate.

Considering how transmissible the Omicron variant is, the Mayor surmised cases of Omicron could have already infiltrated the city, citing the abrupt trajectory of cases and the characteristics of the illness COVID-19 patients in the city is experiencing.

“Most probably nandiyan na yung community transmission,” Magalong said.

Magalong said there are many submitted samples lined up at the Philippine Genome Center so that it could take weeks to know the result of the specimen submitted for genome sequencing which will identify whether the virus that causes spike of cases in the city are COVID-19 variant or not.

“Officially lang, wala pa. Something na inaccurate,” Magalong said.

Earlier, Magalong asked residents to take precaution against the Omicron variant, asking them to limit mobility and wear N95 and surgical masks whenever they go out. Baguio also tightened up entry requirements for tourists coming in the city.

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