DOH: Delta variant found in nearly all Philippine regions

The highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant has been detected in nearly all regions of the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

“Lahat po ng regions, based on the recent run, meron na. Pero ang Caraga po wala pa po kaming nade-detect,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.

(All regions, based on the recent run, have a Delta case except Caraga where we haven't detected one.)

Vergeire clarified that the three Delta variant cases earlier reported to be from Caraga have been verified to be returning overseas Filipinos, not local cases. They are currently in isolation in Metro Manila. 

“But it doesn’t mean that they (Caraga) do not have the variant. Katulad nga ng sabi natin, ‘yung sampling po kasi na ginagamit natin doesn’t really cover that much of the population for us to determine kung nasaan na siya sa mga regions,” she added.

(But it doesn’t mean that Caraga does not have the variant. Like we said, our sampling doesn’t really cover that much of the population for us to determine where the variant is.)

Vergeire said that while the Alpha and Beta variants still account for most of the variant cases, almost half of the 338 samples subjected to genome sequencing in the latest run tested positive for the Delta variant.

“Talagang mukhang ‘yung proportion ng Delta variant dito sa ating bansa, based on this initial and very rough analysis, ay mukhang tumataas po talaga,” she said.

(It really looks like the proportion of Delta variant cases in our country, based on this initial and very rough analysis, is really increasing.)

The country has recorded 807 Delta variant cases as of August 12.

ECQ effect to be seen in 2 to 3 weeks

Meanwhile, Vergeire reiterated that the effect of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed in certain areas in the country, including the National Capital Region, will not become evident until two to three weeks after.

“We are seeing that the cases are continuously increasing… After we end the ECQ period, we still need to have about two to three weeks before we can see the total effect of these lockdowns that we are doing right now,” she explained.

Vergeire also reported a 22% overall utilization rate of temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs). However, the figure has increased to 44% in Metro Manila and 60% to 76% in some mega TTMFs.

The Philippines has logged over 1.74 million COVID-19 cases with 1.61 million recoveries and 30,340 deaths as of Sunday afternoon. —KBK, GMA News