BAGUIO CITY’S coronavirus management team is now re-interviewing 89 of the 130 contacts of a patient identified to have had the Delta variant and already recovered, the local government said on Thursday.
In a statement, Mayor B. Magalong said control measures were immediately set in motion after they were informed by the Health department that two coronavirus cases in the city were confirmed to be of the Delta variant on Aug. 15.
The control measures include back-tracing and link analyses among the contacts, repeat RT PCR tests, interviews, and checking on further contacts and travels.
Mr. Magalong, who coached other local governments on contact-tracing, said their initial review indicates that one of the two Delta cases was not an index case.
“Our Delta patient is not necessarily the primary source of the virus. He is not the index case, and based on the link analysis, others were infected before him. It just so happened that it was his specimen that was submitted for testing (among the cluster of positive patients),” the mayor said in mixed English and Filipino.
Felipe Puzon of the lead contact tracing team said initial results of back- tracing showed one co-worker experienced symptoms as early as June 19 and could possibly be the index case.
“Records and reinvestigation also showed that some of the contacts had been traced to have had activities in some Benguet towns and other areas and these local government units had been notified and furnished the names of the contacts for them to undertake follow up contact tracing and other measures,” the city government said.
City Health Officer Rowena Galpo, meanwhile, said they are assuming that the 22 patients in the cluster had been infected by the Delta variant, thus control measures are now centered on them.
The other confirmed Delta case was a returning overseas Filipino worker who arrived in the country July 18 and had a 10-day quarantine in Manila. Another seven-day home isolation was required upon returning to Baguio.
Contact tracing is now ongoing for his co-passengers at the sweeper bus and the taxi he took to get home, the city government said.