DOH: Death toll from Delta variant rises to 9

The death toll from the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant has climbed to nine after the Department of Health (DOH) reported one additional fatality.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the latest fatality was a local case. No other details were provided.

Meanwhile, out of the 216 Delta cases recorded so far, 17 remain active. 

Among the 17 active cases, 15 are local and two are returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

The other 190 cases have already recovered from COVID-19.

Vergeire said 165 Delta cases are local, 48 are ROFs, and three cases are still under verification.

The DOH also supported an earlier statement by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention likening the transmissibility of the Delta variant to chickenpox. 

“Yes we agree to that and nasa ebidensya naman po talaga na ang (evidence really shows that the) Delta variant is highly transmissible compared to the UK variant,” Vergeire told a briefing.

Metro Manila will be under the strictest lockdown classification from August 6 to 20 to stem transmission of the highly infectious variant. 

Health authorities will also augment the intensive care unit (ICU) bed capacity of four big hospitals in the capital region to brace for a possible surge in admissions. 

The Philippines has logged over 1.58 million COVID-19 cases with 1.51 million recoveries and 28,016 deaths as of Sunday afternoon. — RSJ, GMA News