MANILA (2nd UPDATE) - A case of the omicron BA.2.12 was detected in a foreign visitor in Baguio early this month, although the patient has already recovered and returned to her home country, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.

The patient was a 52-year-old woman who arrived from Finland last April 2. She did not undergo isolation since she was fully vaccinated and arrived asymptomatic, the DOH said.

The BA.2.12 is a subvariant of omicron that comprises majority of the COVID-19 cases in the US, according to the DOH, citing data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC).

It is presently not a variant of interest or variant of concern.

The Finnish woman traveled to Quezon City and Baguio City to conduct seminars and experienced mild symptoms after 9 days, the DOH said.

The patient had 9 close contacts in Quezon City and 5 others in Benguet. All of them are "being closely monitored", while some have been tested and turned out negative, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Thursday.

The DOH also identified 30 near contacts of the patient in the airplane, Vergeire said.

"We were able to see most of them were fully vaccinated. Some were tested and negative. Nobody is experiencing symptoms as of this time," she told ANC's Headstart.

After recovering and completing her 7-day isolation, the Finnish woman returned to her home country on April 21, the DOH said.

It is possible the woman could have been infected on her journey to the Philippines or when she arrived, Vergeire said.

"We all know there's 14 days incubation of the virus. She might have gotten that during her travel. She arrived here on April 2; she had symptoms on April 10, the 9th day of her infection," she said.

"She might have gotten that from her travel or from her originating country."

According to the DOH, there were 132 samples sequenced in its latest whole genome sequencing, of which 83 or 63 percent were omicron. The samples came from 10 regions, with one sample from a foreign national.

The samples include the single BA.2.12 case.

The DOH also said 45 samples had no lineage, which, according to Vergeire, is usually due to sample degradation either during storage or transport.

The country's surveillance systems "are able to detect new cases and characterize their lineage," said the DOH.

"The public can avoid all variants, whether new or currently circulating, by continuing to wear the Best-fitting mask, Isolate when sick, Double-up protection through vaccination and boosters, and ensure good Airflow," it said.

Baguio City in January had a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 95.43 percent, with 268,168 of 281,000 eligible individuals fully inoculated, the local government said.

Some 13 million people have so far received a booster shot out of 67 million who have been fully vaccinated, Malacanang said Wednesday.

Independent research group OCTA earlier warned that the entry of the more transmissible omicron subvariants could cause a surge in the country, with daily cases reaching up to 10,000.

• New COVID-19 omicron subvariants will cause surge in cases: OCTA Research
• New omicron subvariants might bring up to 10,000 daily new cases: group

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