A returning overseas Filipino worker (OFW) is Pangasinan’s first case of the more virulent Delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said Monday.
PHO chief Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman said the returning OFW is a seafarer who arrived in the country on July 13 and was placed under quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.
The returning OFW was later deemed to have recovered from the disease following his quarantine and returned to the province on August 3, said De Guzman.
De Guzman said the patient arrived at the drop-off point in Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) along with 20 other returning OFWs.
“He was tested positive for Covid-19 when he arrived in the country but before he was sent home, he was able to complete his quarantine and was considered as recovered,” De Guzman said.
Later, it was found that the patient was infected by the Delta variant, said De Guzman.
“Technically, the seafarer has been declared to have recovered. But for health safety, as he was identified as a Delta variant case, he and his companions and the rest of those in the bus with him have to undergo quarantine and swab test,” De Guzman said.
De Guzman said the returning OFW as well as his family are under 14-day mandatory quarantine.
