SITUATION ON THE GROUND A queue builds up outside Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City as residents await their turn to get vaccinated. At right, in Cagayan province, a sign displayed at the gate of Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegarao City warns people about the situation in its COVID-19 ward. —PHOTOS BY RAY B. ZAMBRANO AND DR. MATTHEW BAGGAO/CONTRIBUTOR

By Villamor Visaya Jr., Philippine News Agency Stringer and Philippine Daily Inquirer Correspondent

TUGUEGARAO CITY–Two persons with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus had been detected in Cagayan province, local health officials said Tuesday, Jan. 18.

Dr. Carlos Cortina III, Cagayan province health officer, said the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed these cases based on the genome sequencing done on the two virus-infected patients last month.

In a statement, Cortina said one of the patients from Tuao town had a travel history from Metro Manila. The other was a resident of Barangay Caggay in Tuguegarao.

Both patients were declared “clinically recovered,” Cortina said.

As of Monday, the region had 6,200 active COVID-19 cases, data from the regional DOH office showed.#

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