640 more Delta variant cases detected in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — (Updated 9:30 a.m.) Health authorities on Monday said they detected 640 more cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
That figure makes up 85.6% of the 748 samples sent for genome sequencing, according to the Department of Health.
Of the additional infections, the agency said 584 were local cases, 52 were returning Filipinos from abroad, while four are still being verified.
Thirteen of the new Delta cases had died, three were active and 624 have been listed as recovered.
Top regions that had indicated address of Delta patients were: Metro Manila with 112, Cagayan Valley with 52 and Calabarzon with 49.
DOH said the total number of Delta variant cases in the Philippines is now at 2,708.
Apart from Delta infections, there were also 24 cases of the Alpha variant, or that first detected in the United Kingdom.
Officials reported 28 of the Beta, too, or the variant first seen in South Africa, along with five of the homegrown P.3 or a variant under "alerts for monitoring."
Local and global updates on COVID-19 cases, outbreaks and containment efforts due to the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India. (Main image: Lockdown in Sydney, Australia in June 2021 by AFP/Saeed Khan)
The Delta variant remains dominant and experts, governments and vaccine makers are urging people to take advantage of booster jabs where they are available.
Delta has proved able to evade vaccine defences against transmission better than the Alpha, Beta and Gamma COVID-19 variants.
But jabs have remained highly effective at preventing severe illness from Delta, lowering the risk of overwhelming hospital resources. — AFP
The DOH reports 520 new cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, bringing the total in the Philippines to 5,331.
The new COVID-19 Delta subvariant has not yet been detected in the Philippines, the Department of Health says.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says health authorities are monitoring 46 sublineages of the Delta variant, but “the particular Delta sublineage has not yet been detected among the COVID-19 positive samples sequenced in the country.”
Experts, however, are looking into the potential impact of the Delta AY.4.2. sublineage on transmissibility.
The Department of Health reports 633 additional cases of the Delta variant.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the additional infections account for 84.63% of the 748 samples tested on October 16.
The DOH reports 411 more cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant in the country.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the new Delta variant cases come from 747 samples collected from February to September.
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