WHO confirms community transmission of Delta variant in PH

MANILA, Philippines — The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Tuesday that community transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant is already evident in the country, considering the high numbers of Delta cases being detected in sequenced samples.

“We know that the most recent data from the Philippine Genome Center, although with limited sample, indicates that more than 70 percent of the current transmission is attributable to the Delta variant,” WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in a media briefing.

“With this kind of transmission, with these kinds of numbers, we are in community transmission of the Delta variant,” he added.

The WHO has laid down the following criteria for community transmission: appearance of large number of cases, occurrence of case clusters in multiple areas, and inability to link cases to known sources of infection.

Abeyasinghe also said that the Delta variant “has emerged as the dominant variant” in the Philippines.

Health authorities have detected the Delta variant in all regions except the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. However, the Department of Health (DOH) this could be due to the low number of samples being submitted by the region.

The Department of Health has so far confirmed a total of 1,789 Delta variant cases in the country, including 38 that remain active.

The country currently has 148,594 active COVID-19 cases, including 22,366 new infections—the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

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