The Department of Health (DOH) is urging the local government units (LGUs) to initiate “enhanced response” following indications there may already have been local transmission of the dreaded Covid Delta variant in some areas of the country amid recorded spikes in infections.
The DOH on Thursday reported the detection of 12 local cases of Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, 187 Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant cases, 142 Beta (B.1.351) variant cases, and 12 P.3 variant cases on the latest whole genome sequencing by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC).
“With the detection of additional cases, it is crucial that we implement enhanced response immediately in the areas where these cases were detected and its contiguous local government units as well as areas with case spikes with the premise that there may be ongoing local transmission already,” DOH said, even as the health agency withheld confirmation of a local transmission of the Delta variant.
According to the report of the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH) and the UP-PGC to the DOH, the latest include additional 12 local Delta variant cases.
The indicated addresses of these local cases were as follows: Region 3 with six cases, Calabarzon with two cases, Region 5 with one case, and the National Capital Region with three cases.
All cases have been tagged as recovered but DOH regional and local health offices are validating their outcomes. This brings the total Delta variant cases to 47.
Also, in the previous sequencing on July 15, 2021, 16 Delta variant cases were detected among five returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and 11 local cases.
Of the 16 cases, 2 died and the rest have completed their initial 10-day isolation period.
Upon release of sequencing results, immediate contact tracing, quarantine, and RT-PCR retesting were done on all cases and their close contacts.
Third generation contact tracing was also initiated. Eight Delta variant cases that returned positive on the reswab were placed in isolation and their contacts remained in quarantine.
Alpha variant
OF the additional 187 Alpha variant cases detected, 179 were local cases and eight are currently being verified if they were local or ROF cases.
Based on the case line list, 54 cases have died while 133 have been tagged as recovered. This brings the total Alpha variant cases to 1,668.
Beta variant
OF the additional 142 Beta variant cases, 134 were local cases and eight cases are currently being verified if they are local or ROF cases.
Based on the case line list, 21 have died and 121 have recovered. The total Beta variant cases are now at 1,827.
P.3 variant
OF the additional 12 P.3 variant cases, 11 were local cases and one is currently being verified if this is a local or ROF case. All cases have been tagged as recovered.
The P.3 variant has been reclassified as “alert for further monitoring.”
This variant is currently being investigated and information continually collected to monitor its public health implication.
The DOH also reiterated that the detection of local cases with the Delta variant and other variants of concern, the public must “strictly” adhere to the minimum public health standards and continue to avoid enclosed spaces and mass gatherings.
“Continued implementation of the PDITR [Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration] strategies and localized lockdowns, active case detection, contact tracing, completion of isolation/quarantine, and increased vaccination of the priority groups are necessary to control the further transmission of Covid-19 and its variants.”
The DOH also requested the LGUs to increase their samples for whole genome sequencing especially in areas with identified spikes of cases and clustering.
Daily scorecard
Meanwhile, DOH reported it has logged a total of 5,828 additional Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,530,266.
The DOH also recorded 3,257 recoveries and 17 deaths.
Due to technical issues encountered in COVIDKaya, the manual solution was implemented as a contingency measure. However, the DOH stressed that cases reported as of July 21 “may not have up-to-date data entries” in certain fields (e.g. health status, residence, quarantine status).
“The issue is currently being investigated and a resolution is expected in the next few days. Rest assured that the DOH is exerting all efforts to update the cases as soon as possible,” the DOH assured.