Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche. (Screengrab from OPAV video) CEBU CITY - Only three of the 24 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Central Visayas were admitted for treatment and all the patients have already recovered. Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH-7) chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche said in a briefer at the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center on Friday as of January 25 data, the region now has a total of 46 Omicron cases. She also clarified in a phone interview that based on data from the Epidemiology Bureau of the DOH central office, there were 24 samples and not 20, as reported by media, that were found positive for the Omicron variant. "The swab specimens for this batch were taken last Dec. 25, 2021 to Jan. 5, 2022," Loreche said. The number of samples sent to the Philippine Genome Center in Quezon City for sequencing since the first batch now runs at 378. "