Quezon City detects Delta variant case from returning OFW

The Quezon City government on Monday confirmed a case of the Delta coronavirus variant in the city -- a returning overseas Filipino worker.

The local government said the patient is a 34-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who arrived on June 24 and stayed at a hotel in Makati City for 10 days for his mandatory quarantine before being transferred to a hotel in Manila from July 4 to July 11.

The patient, who recovered on July 11, was symptomatic, the Quezon City government said in a statement.

"He experienced a slightly itchy throat on June 28 and was swabbed on June 30. He was considered recovered and was allowed to go home to his family on July 11," it said.

His sequenced sample was only informed to the Quezon City's Epidemiology and Surveillance Disease Unit (CESU) on Sunday evening, which prompted the CESU to conduct swab tests for him and his family this Monday.

Further, the patient and his family are under strict home quarantine to prevent chain of transmission.

“He will undergo another swab test, along with his family, as part of our protocol even if he is considered a recovered patient. We are doing extensive contact tracing on his close contacts just to make sure,” CESU head Dr. Rolly Cruz said in the same statement.

QC Mayor Joy Belmonte assured the residents that they have prepared extensive measures to contain the surge of COVID-19.

“What is important is that we are intensifying testing and aggressive contact tracing,” she said.

Construction worker tests positive for Delta variant

The  city government, meanwhile, is also working with another local government unit after it learned that a man who lives in another city but works in a factory in Quezon City also tested positive for the more transmissible variant.

Moreover, the pregnant wife of the worker is also diagnosed with the severe respiratory ailment.

"CESU has been conducting contact tracing and swabbing at his place of work since Saturday. There are no reported cases yet at his place of work but we are doing this as a preventive measure to make sure we contain any possible transmission early,” Cruz said.

According to the local government, the worker experienced shortness of breathing, colds, fever, and sore throat on July 4. The following day, he tested positive for the disease.

He was immediately admitted to the  Philippine General Hospital  and was discharged on July 18. His wife, despite having no symptoms, was tested positive for the disease on July 8 and again on July 17.

The couple is currently staying at a quarantine facility in another city until the end of July.

So far, the Philippines recorded a total of 119 cases of the Delta variant. Of which, four have died. 

Independent group OCTA Research has advised local government units to intensify contact tracing and testing as the country braces for a possible surge due to the Delta variant.  —Consuelo Marquez/KBK, GMA News