AMONG the provinces and cities, Cebu Province recorded the highest number of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases on Sunday, August 8, 2021.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday, August 9, that Cebu had 664 new infections, followed by Cavite with 556, Laguna with 528, Bulacan with 487 and Quezon City with 431.
Given the rising cases in Cebu Province as well as in the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, Central Visayas region had the third highest number of new cases at 1,412 on Sunday.
The National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest infections at 2,325, followed by Calabarzon (1,562).
Following Central Visayas were Central Luzon (1,025) and Northern Mindanao (635).
These five regions, along with eight other regions, have Covid-19 cases caused by the highly contagious Delta variant. All 16 cities and one municipality in the NCR, or Metro Manila, have been affected.
The Delta variant has now been detected in 13 regions, 26 provinces, and 29 highly urbanized and independent component cities, Vergeire said.
A total of 450 Delta cases have been detected nationwide as of August 8.
Of these, 146 are in the NCR, 47 in Calabarzon, 37 in Central Visayas, 39 in Central Luzon and 22 in Northern Mindanao.
The eight other regions with Delta cases are Ilocos (5), Cagayan Valley (1), Bicol (1), Western Visayas (36), Eastern Visayas (11), Zamboanga Peninsula (3), Davao (6) and Cordillera (1).
Vergeire said 10 had died, 13 cases remained active and 426 recovered. The outcome of one case was still being verified.
More than half of the patients, or 248 (55 percent), are male. The patients included infants under one year old and adults 84 years old.
Of the 450 cases, 69 are returning overseas Filipinos (ROF) and 355 are local cases, which means they have no foreign travel history.
As of Sunday, Vergeire said they have verified that 35 of the cases are fully vaccinated, 17 have received one dose and 83 are not vaccinated. They were still verifying the vaccination status of 315 cases.
The Delta variant, which originated in India, is believed to be driving the sharp increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.
This variant is highly transmissible, with an infected person transmitting the virus to up to eight others.
The risk of hospitalization and death is high, especially among the unvaccinated. This variant contains mutations that allow the virus to easily penetrate host human cells and replicate faster.
The DOH has placed the entire Cebu under Alert Level 4, an early warning system that triggers several actions that concerned local government units must undertake.
This is different from an area’s risk or quarantine classification, which is based on the two-week growth rate, healthcare utilization system and average daily attack rate, among others.
The cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu are under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) while Cebu Province is under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until August 15.
Other areas under Alert Level 4 are