DOH locates 5 ‘missing’ travelers from South Africa

MANILA – A health official on Friday confirmed that the Department of Health (DOH) has located five more travelers from South Africa who have been tagged as “missing”.

“We have already located another five, so we are just trying to locate two of these travelers,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a Viber message to reporters.

It is in South Africa where the newly identified Omicron variant of the coronavirus was first reported, restricting travel anew worldwide.

Many countries have closed borders, including the Philippines, to several countries with reported Omicron cases.

Earlier, the DOH said the unlocated travelers are among the 253 individuals who arrived in the country between November 15 and 29.

They are all returning overseas Filipinos who were unable to be located because some provided their agency’s contact numbers and not their personal numbers. Others gave either incorrect or incomplete contact numbers.

The DOH continues to keep in touch with local government units, Bureau of Quarantine and the Philippine National Police to track other travelers to prevent the possible entry of the Omicron variant in the country.