Philippines detects 640 more Delta variant cases; total now 2,708

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported 640 additional cases of the more transmissible Delta coronavirus variant, bringing the total to 2,708.

Of the additional 640 Delta variant cases, 584 were local cases, 52 were Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF), the DOH said.

"Four cases are currently being verified if these are local or ROF cases," it added.

Of the 584 local cases, 112 have addresses in the National Capital Region, 52 in Cagayan Valley, and 49 in Calabarzon.

The DOH two Delta cases indicated their addresses to be in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

"Based on the case line list, three cases are still active, 13 cases have died, while 624 cases have been tagged as recovered," the DOH said.

"Case details are being validated by the regional and local health offices."

The DOH said the latest count is from the 748 samples sequenced by the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health.

Other variants

Aside from the Delta cases,  28 Beta variant cases, 24 Alpha variant cases, and five P.3 variant cases were also detected.

Of the additional 24 Alpha variant cases, 23 were local cases and one was a ROF, the DOH said. Based on the case list, one case died while 23 cases have been tagged as recovered.

The total Alpha variant cases are now 2,448.

Meanwhile, the additional 28 Beta variant cases were all local cases and have been tagged as recovered.

The total Beta variant cases are now 2,725.

Likewise, five additional P.3 variant cases were all local cases and have been tagged as recovered.

Scaled-down services

The UP-PGC, meanwhile, announced that starting September 9, it will be scaling down its COVID-19 RT-PCR testing services to shift their resources on the detection of COVID-19 variants through whole genome sequencing.

"The shift will lead to an expected increase in the sequencing capacity and detection of COVID-19 variant cases in the country in the succeeding months," the DOH said.  —KBK, GMA News