Expert sees no need to extend 14-day quarantine after detection of Omicron variant

An infectious disease expert sees no need to extend the mandatory 14-day quarantine period after the Philippines detected its first two cases of the Omicron variant 15 days after arrival in the country.

On December 15, the Philippines detected the variant of concern from two international travelers, a 48-year-old returning overseas Filipino that arrived on December 1 and a foreign national that arrived on November 30.iant/story/

“I don’t think there’s ... we need to do that. I think 14 days especially for those without symptoms and those with only mild symptoms,” Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the Vaccine expert panel, told CNN Philippines.

“Fourteen days would be enough and within those 14 days, there should be close monitoring and observation among those close contacts of [the] index case,” he added.

Under the new guidelines, fully vaccinated travelers will be required to have a negative RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin.

They will then undergo quarantine facility-based quarantine and take an RT-PCR test on the fifth day. Regardless of a negative result, they shall be required to undergo home quarantine up to the 14th day from the date of arrival.

At a media briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, said this only applies to countries under the green list.

Vergeire also said the variant was detected in less than 15 days.

“December 7 nag-positive ang ating individual na nagkaroon nitong Omicron variant… Sinubmit po last week yan, ni-run po siya ng December 13, lumabas po ang resulta December 14 ng gabi,” Vergeire said.

(The individual tested positive on December 7… It was sequenced on December 13 and the results came out on the evening of December 14.)

Further, she called on local government units to submit samples immediately.

“Ang atin pong challenge ngayon, how fast our laboratories, how fast our epidemiology and surveillance units are submitting the samples,” she said.

(The challenge right now is how fast our laboratories, how fast our epidemiology and surveillance units are submitting the samples.)

“Local governments, our laboratories please submit the samples as fast, as immediate as possible, so we can test them. [The] capacity of the Philippine Genome Center is there,” she added.

Quarantine period

Solante said some countries are increasing their quarantine period.

“In some countries, they're increasing the observation period from 14 days to 21 days especially for those with contact with [the] Omicron variant,” he said.

The Department of Health previously said it is still tracing the close contacts of the passengers. It is also verifying the test results and health status of all passengers of the flights.

However, Solante said all passengers, not just the close contacts, must be traced and re-tested “to be safe.”

“Yes, all of those should be tested and another phase din is that if they will be positive, all of those contacts. Because… what you want to avoid now is the contact of this possible secondary contact of these index cases sa community,” he said.

He also advised the travelers to monitor for symptoms and to isolate themselves.

Travelers from said flights were advised to reach out to the DOH through DOH COVID-19 Hotlines at (02) 8942 6843 or 1555, or their respective local government units to report their status.

Former health adviser Dr. Tony Leachon has also advised the national government to impose a travel ban on all countries to prevent transmission of Omicron. — RSJ, GMA News