(Eagle News) — The Department of Health has located one of the eight travelers from South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first announced.
With the development, Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said there are seven who remain unlocated.
She said all are returning overseas Filipinos.
According to the health official, the located traveler has so far tested negative for COVID-19 in the RT-PCR test.
The person remains in home quarantine.
The seven travelers who have yet to be located are part of the 253 travelers who arrived from South Africa in the Philippines from November 15 to November 29, before the Philippine government imposed a ban on passengers coming from that country amid the Omicron threat.
Earlier, the DOH said three travelers from South Africa, Burkina Faso, and Egypt tested positive for COVID-19.
Their samples have been sent to the Philippine Genome Center for genome sequencing to determine the COVID-19 variant they were infected with.
