NINETEEN of the 466 additional cases of Covid-19 caused by the Delta variant in the Philippines were detected in Central Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH) central office reported on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021.
The health agency did not give specifics as to where these 19 cases of Delta variant detected in the region that comprises Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor were located.
Delta variant cases in Central Visayas have now reached 55.
Last July 29, the DOH 7 reported that all the 32 Delta variant cases detected in Central Visayas were in Cebu; then on Aug. 5, the agency reported an additional four Delta variant cases in the region, still all in Cebu.
The Covid-19 cases in the country caused by the highly contagious Delta variant jumped past 1,000 with the detection of the 466 cases.
Aside from Central Visayas, the rest of the additional Delta cases were detected in the National Capital Region (NCR), 201 cases; Central Luzon, 69 cases; Western Visayas, 52 cases; Calabarzon, 49 cases; Mimaropa, 14 cases; Davao Region, 11 cases; Cagayan Valley, 7 cases; Soccsksargen, 7 cases; Northern Mindanao, 6 cases; Bicol Region, 4 cases; and Ilocos Region, 3 cases.
The DOH central office on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, also said the latest sequencing run yielded 90 additional Alpha cases, 105 Beta cases and 41 P.3 cases.
Community transmission
DOH officials have stressed that they have been assuming community transmission of the Delta variant in their response since July 2021.
In a statement Monday, the DOH confirmed community transmission in the NCR and Calabarzon.
The DOH cited the large numbers of Delta cases in the two regions. The agency also said the cases cannot be epidemiologically linked to each other and the source/s of infections could not be determined.
There are now 1,273 Covid-19 cases with the Delta variant (B.1.617.2).
Of the additional 466 cases, one is still active, 457 cases have been tagged as recovered and eight had died, raising the death toll to 25.
Fourteen of these additional cases were returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs), 442 were local cases and 10 were being verified.
Other variants
The additional 90 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) cases detected brought the total Alpha cases to 2,322.
Of the additional cases, 89 were local cases and one case is being verified.
Based on the case line list, one case is still active, one case died and 88 cases have been tagged as recovered.
The Beta variant (B.1.351) cases, meanwhile, increased to 2,588.
Of the 105 additional Beta variant cases, 101 were local cases and four were ROFs.
Based on the case line list, four cases died, 99 cases have been tagged as recovered and two cases have outcomes that are being verified.
The 41 additional P.3 variant cases were all local cases. Based on the case list, 40 cases have been tagged as recovered while one case has an outcome that is being verified.
The Alpha, Beta and Delta variants of Sars-CoV-2 are classified as variants of concern while the P.3, which emerged in Central Visayas, was downgraded to variants with alerts for further monitoring.
The latest sequencing run conducted by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center involved 746 samples submitted by 62 collecting institutions and different Centers for Health Development.