The Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday it detected the first case of the Omicron BA2.12, a sub-lineage of the circulating Omicron variant, from a 52-year-old woman who arrived from Finland last April 2.

"The case has finished her 7-day isolation and has recovered and was discharged. The patient returned to her home country on April 21, 2022," said the DOH.

The woman was not required to undergo routine isolation at a quarantine facility since she was fully vaccinated and arrived asymptomatic.

She traveled to a university in Quezon City and then to Baguio City to conduct seminars.

Nine days after she arrived in the Philippines, she experienced mild symptoms such as headache and sore throat. She tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via RTPCR the next day.

The local epidemology and surveillance unit performed contact tracing where nine asymptomatic close contacts were located. Two were tested and found negative.

''We have not seen any significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the areas where the Finnish national who was positive for BA 2.12 of Omicron went,'' Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told dzBB. DMS