MANILA, Philippines — The province of Bataan will be placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 8-22.
The Palace announced this Saturday, August 7, through presidential spokesperson Harry Roque who said President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to place the province on a hard lockdown.
Bataan was initially placed under modified ECQ or MECQ until August 15.
According to the provincial government of Bataan, there are 1,974 active cases in the province after the confirmation of 69 new cases on August 6.
Bataan’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 14,643, including the 12,135 recovered patients and 534 deaths.
The provincial government also reported 16 new cases of the Delta variant, bringing the tally of Delta variant infections in Bataan to 35.
The Delta 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 include Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Theta, and Lambda. 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.