CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno confirmed on Thursday, July 29, the detection of eight new Delta variant cases in the city.

According to Moreno, seven of the new Delta cases were family members residing in Barangay Balulang, while the other case was detected in Barangay Canitoan.

With the eight additional cases, the cumulative number of Delta variant cases in Cagayan de Oro is now at 13.

Moreno said that all eight cases have already been recovered as early as July 15.

"All of them have been reported recovered already as early as July 15 pero maniguro lang gyapon ta. Atong hangyo-on nga ato silang madala sa Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility for close monitoring," Moreno said.

He said he gave instructions to the city's health team to handle the re-extraction of the Delta variant cases so they can be transferred to the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility (TTMF) and to do intensive contact tracing of the cases' first, second and third degree close contacts.

"Kung unsa'y atong approaches nga gihimo tong sa first batch sa Delta variant, mao gihapon ang atong gabuhaton karon," Moreno said.

Moreno told the public not to panic, saying the situation is manageable and they are addressing it in collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH).

"Our experts have told us nga kining Delta variant is stronger than sa ordinary virus. It’s more transmissible than the ordinary virus tungod sa mutation," Moreno said.

"However, bisan Delta variant, dili gihapon na sya maka penetrate kung magsunod lang gyud ta sa minimum public health standards," he added.

The mayor said the city will further accelerate its vaccination rollout.