2 Delta cases detected in San Juan

MANILA, Philippines — Two cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant have been detected in San Juan, the city government said yesterday.

In a statement, Mayor Francis Zamora said they were notified that a 9-year-old and a 25-year-old who tested positive at the end of June were already tagged as recovered patients as of July 15 after undergoing a two-week quarantine.

“We only received information yesterday that they are indeed Delta variant cases, almost a week after they had completed their quarantine. Only the Philippine Genome Center has the capacity to conduct genome sequencing,” Zamora said.

The 25-year-old female patient was asymptomatic and finished her quarantine on July 13. She works in a call center in another Metro Manila city, which also employs the father of the 9-year-old resident who tested positive for the Delta variant.

The 9-year-old boy’s mother also tested positive, but was asymptomatic, the city government reported.

“The family underwent quarantine at the Kalinga Center starting July 1 and were all released on July 15,” Zamora said.

The mayor assured his constituents that all health protocols are being strictly implemented while thorough contact tracing is ongoing to prevent the spread of the virus.

As of Monday, San Juan has 110 active cases and has vaccinated 118,189 persons with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as well as 56,757 people with the second dose.

‘Flood did not affect vaccines’

Meanwhile, the Department of Heath (DOH) said yesterday that a cold storage facility for COVID-19 vaccines in Marikina was not affected by the floods that hit the city.

“The facility is on higher ground so the vaccines are safe,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a briefing.

He added that he was assured by “third party logistics” that there will be enough “contingencies” for the vaccine rollout.

Duque also urged local government units to look for vaccination centers “where the public will be safe from floods because, otherwise, they will be exposed to leptospirosis.”

DOH data shows the daily output for vaccination was around 300,000 to 350,000 doses. But heavy rains and floods caused the vaccination rate to drop to 150,000.

3,828 Caloocan teachers get jabs

In Caloocan, at least 3,828 teachers were inoculated with AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccines yesterday.

Mayor Oscar Malapitan said there is a need to vaccinate teachers to protect them while implementing distance learning for students.

The city used the first tranche or 17,200 of 600,000 AstraZeneca doses it procured for its mass vaccination drive. – Sheila Crisostomo, Marc Jayson Cayabyab