MANILA, Philippines — Three of the Delta variant cases of COVID-19 have addresses in the cities of Pasig and Taguig, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday as authorities watch out for the spread of the highly transmissible variant in populous communities.
Data presented by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in an online media briefing showed that Pasig has recorded two local cases while Taguig had one case of the Delta variant.
These were among the 12 newly-detected local cases of the variant that were announced by the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday. The DOH said the cases have been tagged as recovered but authorities are verifying their health status.
Aside from the cases in Pasig and Taguig, six of the 12 cases have addresses in Bataan, two in Laguna, and one in Manila.
Prior to its latest detected case, Manila already had three cases of the Delta variant from previously sequenced samples.
Of the 47 total Delta variant cases in the country, 23 are local cases and 24 are returning overseas Filipinos (ROF).
Per regional distribution of the 23 local cases, Metro Manila has already logged seven total cases of the Delta variant, Central Luzon and Northern Mindanao recorded six each, and Calabarzon and Western Visayas recorded two each.
The DOH has yet to provide the latest breakdown of local Delta variant cases per city and province, but local cases were also earlier reported in Antique, Cagayan de Oro, and Misamis Oriental.
The health department confirmed on Thursday night the local transmission of the Delta variant after finding linkages to some of the cases.
Vergeire reiterated that clustering of infections was found in Northern Mindanao. She added that a case cluster was also found in Antique.
“We are seeing the linkage na dito sa Delta variant cases na nakita natin. Nakita na natin ang cluster of infections sa Northern Mindanao. Nakita po natin na ito ay family cluster. Nakita rin natin na may cluster of infections dito sa Antique,” she said.
(We are seeing the linkage of Delta variant cases. We saw a cluster of infections in Northern Mindanao. This is a family cluster. We also saw a cluster of infections in Antique.)
“Nakikita natin isa-isa ang linkage ng mga kasong ito at patuloy natin pag-aaralan lahat ito para makita natin ang linkage at relasyon ng isang kaso sa isang kaso so that we can be able to further improve yung strategies,” she added.
(We are seeing one by one the linkage of these cases and we will continue to study these so that we will see the connection of each case and we can further improve our strategies.)
RELATED STORIES:
DOH Bicol clarifies Delta variant case not detected in the region
DOH assumes border protocol breach amid local spread of COVID-19 Delta variant