Provincial Administrator Kathyrin Pioquinto clarified that there is no official report coming from the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) that the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus disease (Covid) has been detected in Bohol.
In effect she chided a report of a local paper (not The Bohol Tribune) on its online platform that declared the variant has been “detected in Bohol”. The report is untrue as there is no report of any local transmission of the said variant, Pioquinto explained.
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 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 been detected in Bohol.
Pioquinto reacted to the news story that said that the variant was “detected in Bohol”. Pioquinto told Araneta-Batoy that she read the story in a way that the Omicron variant was detected locally and quoted DOH-7 chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Lorreche.
Reportedly, the 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 two Boholano overseas Filipino workers (OFW), who entered the country via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
The two OFWs who are returning Boholanos have been deemed recovered and have completed quarantine, according to reports.
Pioquinto said she is aware about the two 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.
In a separate interview, this time with Atty. Greg Austral on Jan. 20, 2022 also on Open Forum, Pioquinto said the local
paper has already edited the story to conform to what is factual.
OFWs getting infected with the Omicron variant as “breaking” because they never were a threat to public health.
The OFWs were quarantined and declared recovered from the infection, Pioquinto stressed.
The OFWs who tested positive with Omicron completed a 14-day quarantine, Pioquinto added.
Pioquinto stressed to Austral during the radio interview that the local paper could have reported the news as a regular report and as accurate as possible.
The provincial administrator also said that prudence should be observed by making accurate reports. Inaccurate news may cause undue anxiety and panic to the public, she quipped.