HEALTH officials here isolated the family of a returning overseas worker in Iligan City on Thursday after he was found infected with the more infectious but less severe Omicron virus.

Dr. Jasper Kent Ola, head of the Department of Health 10 Regional Epidemiology, Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit (RESDRU) said the returning overseas worker, an unvaccinated 40-year-old seaman from Kenya, arrived in Iligan City last December 30 after undergoing isolation in Cebu City.

Ola said they found four close contacts in the family of the seaman who lives in Barangay Del Carmen, in Iligan City.

“We have isolated the family and informed them that they would have to under swab tests,” Ola told reporters during a press briefing on Friday.

Ola said the seaman was diagnosed as asymptomatic and health authorities in Cebu have tagged him as recovered.

He said the seaman was swabbed after he arrived in Cebu City last December 16 and was quarantined at JPark Resort hotel.

Ola said the swab test taken on December 15 found him positive of the coronavirus and the seaman who experienced coughing and fever was transferred to another hotel where he stayed from December 23 to 30.

“After he recovered, the seaman underwent another swab test and was tagged as recovered and asymptomatic,” Ola said.

Ola said last Jan. 7, the Philippine Genome Center informed health officials in Region 10 and Iligan City that the seaman was found to be positive of the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, DOH-10 Regional Director Dr. Jose Llacuna Jr., said another Omicron patient who was bound for Cagayan de Oro was held in Manila after she was also found positive of the infectious variant.

Llacuna said the patient, a 20-year-old female college student from Las Vegas, is now quarantined at the Oxford Suites in Makati City.

He said the student arrived in Manila aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) last Dec. 27 after a brief stopover in Osaka, Japan.

“Fortunately, she was not able to board her flight to Cagayan de Oro. She is still in Manila right now,” Llacuna said.

LLacuna said the patient was supposed to go home to her family in Barangay 1, Cagayan de Oro for the holidays.