MANILA, Philippines — The 11 foreign tourists who were found infected with the highly contagious Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan have recovered.
Dr. Dean Palanca, city government incident management team head, said the foreigners, who had just visited the Tubbataha Reef when they tested positive for the virus, left the country early this month.
He said the tourists did not roam in Palawan and stayed only on a yacht, which made contact tracing easier.
Palanca had earlier said nearly half of the foreigners were asymptomatic and the others had mild symptoms.
All the close contacts of the foreigners tested negative for COVID.
The foreigners, all fully vaccinated, were among the country’s first cases of the Omicron subvariant. They were with a cluster of infections in a mini-cruise liner on April 29.
Two other persons in Metro Manila and three in Iloilo City were found positive for the Omicron subvariant.
The Department of Health has confirmed the local transmission of the highly contagious COVID subvariant.