Did Gwyneth Chua have Omicron? DOH says data privacy prevents disclosure

The results of the genome sequencing on Gwyneth Chua's swab sample has come out but the Department of Health said it could not disclose whether she had the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said Republic Act 11332 on the disclosure of notifiable diseases and the Data Privacy Act prevented the DOH from revealing the results of the genome sequencing.

“Lumabas na po kahapon ang ating genome sequencing results and we’re still trying to verify,” Vergeire said at the Palace briefing.

[Our results were released yesterday and we’re still trying to verify.]

“Kailangan lang po maintindihan ng nating mga kababayan na ang mga datos na ganito po ay nasasaloob sa ating batas na RA 11332 atsaka sa Data Privacy Act so we cannot disclose the results of our genome sequencing to the public,” he added.

[The public just needs to understand that this kind of data is included in RA 11332 and the Data Privacy Act, so we cannot disclose the results of our genome sequencing to the public.]

The DOH on Thursday reported an 29 new cases of the Omicron variant, of which 19 have indicated addresses in the National Capital Region.

This brought the total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the country to 43.

Vergeire said genome sequencing results cannot show if there is already a local community transmission of the variant.

“Well, our whole-genome sequencing results cannot provide us with that kind of detail, no? To say if there are links or if there are a lot of Omicron already in the community,” she said.

“Pero simula’t simula, last week pa lang nagsasabi na tayo, na ang kagawaran ng kalusugan, pati ang ating mga eksperto nagsasabi, high likelihood na po na ang Omicron ay nasa ating mga komunidad na,” she added.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Tuesday filed the complaint before the Makati Prosecutor's Office against Chua, her parents, five hotel personnel, and her boyfriend. —NB, GMA News