DOH reports 116 more COVID-19 Delta variant cases; total now at 331

A representation of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) reported Thursday 116 more cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant, pushing the tally to 331.

Of the additional Delta variant cases, 95 were detected locally while one is a Returning Overseas Filipino (ROF). Health authorities are still trying to verify if the remaining 20 are local or ROF cases.

According to DOH, 83 of the 95 local cases had an indicated address in Metro Manila while three had indicated addresses in Calabarzon, four in Central Visayas, two in Davao Region, and one each in Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan Valley, and Ilocos Region.

“All cases have been tagged as recovered. All other information is being validated by our regional and local health offices,” the DOH said in a statement.

The DOH also said that among the 216 Delta variant cases reported last July 29, one case was verified to have been tested in two different laboratories.

“Both samples were sent to UP-PGC (University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center), sequenced after an anonymized selection, and detected with the Delta variant. With this, the DOH is amending the previous total Delta variant cases from 216 to 215,” the health department clarified.

The Delta variant is just one of several variants of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus first detected in China’s Wuhan province in late 2019. SARS-CoV-2 causes the serious respiratory illness COVID-19.

Other variants of SARS-CoV-2 are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Theta, and Lambda, among others. So far, the World Health Organization tagged the Delta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma as variants of concern or VOCs.

The Delta (B.1.617.2) variant was first discovered in India, Alpha (B.1.1.7) in the United Kingdom, Beta (B.1.351) in South Africa, Gamma (P.1) in Brazil, Theta (P.3) in the Philippines, and Lambda (C.37) in Peru.

Mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 result in new variants of the new coronavirus.

Other coronavirus variants in PH

Aside from the Delta variant, the DOH also reported 113 more cases of the Alpha variant; 122, Beta variant; and 10 cases of Theta variant in the latest batch of whole-genome sequencing.

Of the additional Alpha variant cases, 104 are local cases and one is a ROF. The DOH said it is still verifying if the eight remaining cases were detected locally or are ROFs. Records show that two patients carrying the COVID-19 Alpha variant have died and 111 have recovered.

According to DOH, two samples from an Alpha variant case were both sequenced. With this, total Alpha variant cases as of July 29 were updated from 1,856 to 1,855 – bringing the sum of Alpha variant cases in the country to 1,968.

Of the additional Beta variant cases, 104 are local cases, four are ROFs, while 14 are being verified if they are local or ROF cases. All newly-detected cases have been tagged as recovered. The total Beta variant cases in the Philippines stood at 2,268 as of August 5.

As for the additional Theta variant cases, the DOH said nine of them are local cases and one was a ROF. All cases have recovered, according to the health agency.

“DOH would like to reiterate that these cases detected with the variants of concern are already COVID-19 positive, hence, clinical management and response remain the same,” the DOH noted.

KGA