Provincial Administrator Kathyrin Pioquinto clarified that there is no official report that the Omicron variant has entered Bohol.
In effect she insisted that there is no official local case of Omicron variant in Bohol.
This was her statement in a radio interview aired over dyTR Open Forum 91.1 FM’s Open Forum on Jan. 18, 2022, hosted by Ardy Araneta-Batoy.
Pioquinto explained that it is not true that the Omicron variant has been detected here in Bohol.
She added that as the executive director of the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force (BIATF), she is in constant communication with the Department of Health (DOH), and would know if the Omicron variant has officially entered Bohol.
Pioquinto reacted to the news story that said that the said variant was “detected in Bohol”. She said that she read the story that way.
Reportedly, the said news story which originally said that 2 cases of Omicron variant “have been detected in Bohol” was then edited. The story now says that the Omicron variant has been detected on 2 Boholano overseas Filipino workers, who entered the country via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and have recovered and completed quarantine.
Pioquinto said she is aware about the 2 OFWs whose swab samples were sequenced and turned out to be positive with the Omicron variant. She insists that while they are Boholanos, they were not in Bohol when they tested positive for Omicron variant.
Nonetheless, Pioquinto said that it is close to impossible that the variant will not ever reach Bohol.
The provincial administrator said that prudence should be observed by making accurate reports. Inaccurate news may cause undue anxiety and panic to the public.