516 additional Delta variant cases detected in the country —DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday said 516 more cases of the highly contagious Delta variant were detected, bringing the total count of cases to 1,789.

In a statement, the DOH, the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) said the new Delta variant cases were from 748 sequenced samples from 67 laboratories.

Of the additional Delta variant cases, 473 are local, 31 are returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), and 12 cases are still being probed whether they are local or ROF cases.

The breakdown of the 473 local Delta variant cases are as follows:

• 114 from Metro Manila;
• 24 from Ilocos Region;
• 32 from Cagayan Valley;
• 64 from Central Luzon;
• 79 from Calabarzon;
• 20 from Mimaropa;
• 16 from Bicol region;
• 13 from Western Visayas;
• 23 from Central Visayas;
• 12 from Zamboanga Peninsula;
• 48 from Northern Mindanao;
• 22 from Davao Region; and
• 6 from Cordillera Administrative Region.

The DOH, meanwhile, said six out of the 1,789 total Delta variant cases are active; five cases died while 505 were classified as recovered.

International health experts previously reported that the Delta variant doubles risk of hospitalization while the variant remains 50% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom earlier this year.

The Delta variant is also declared as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization (WHO) which means it could have an increase in transmissibility or increase in virulence or decrease in effectiveness of public health.

Alpha variant

The DOH also said 73 more Alpha variant cases were discovered, including 71 local cases and two ROF cases. 

"All cases have been tagged as recovered," said DOH.

This brought the total number of Alpha variant cases in the Philippines to 2,395, with 2,242 tagged as recovered and 129 classified as deceased.

Beta variant

Cases of Beta variant, which was first detected in South Africa, meanwhile reached 2,669, including 81 new ones.

Of the 81, seventy-eight are local, two cases were from returning Filipinos abroad, and one case is still under verification.

Of the total Beta variant cases, 2,546 are recoveries while 98 are fatalities.

P.3 variant

The P.3 variant, which was detected in the Philippines, rose to 429 cases, with 41 new ones. Of the 429, a total of 421 recovered and six died.

Gamma and Lambda

There were no new cases of the Gamma and Lambda variants in the Philippines, the DOH said.

Total Gamma cases, which originated from Brazil, were at two and were all tagged as recovered. 

The Lambda variant, which was first reported in Peru, remained at one case.

The DOH noted that Alpha and Beta variant cases were still the highest number of coronavirus variants in the country.

But it still warned that the Delta variant is increasing in communities.

"The DOH is closely coordinating with the Centers for Health Development and local government units on the continued implementation of active case finding, aggressive contact tracing and testing, immediate isolation/quarantine, and strengthened PDITR and vaccination strategies to prevent further transmission of the COVID-19 and its variants," it added. —KG, GMA News