(UPDATED) The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, September 6, 2021, announced the detection of 279 additional Delta variant cases, including five in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
With the confirmation of the cases in Bangsamoro, all 17 regions now have Delta variant (B.1.617.2) cases.
Of the 279 newly detected Delta cases, 245 are local, with addresses in National Capital Region (51), Calabarzon (35), Central Luzon (24), Northern Mindanao (22), Bicol (19), Ilocos (17), Cagayan Valley (17), Eastern Visayas (14), Cordillera (13), Davao (10), Mimaropa (9), Central Visayas (5), Bangsamoro (5), Western Visayas (3), and Zamboanga Peninsula (1).
These additional cases bring the Delta cases detected in the country so far to 2,068.
The latest sequencing run conducted by the University of the Philippines Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) also detected 29 additional Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases, 28 Beta (B.1.351) cases and 13 P.3 variant cases. A total of 367 samples from 60 laboratories and Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Units were sequenced.
Aside from the 245 local cases, the additional Delta cases also involved 21 returning overseas Filipinos (ROF) and 13 cases who are being verified whether they are local or ROF.
Based on the case line list, eight had died, raising the death toll from the Delta variant to 46 as of September 3.
There are still 51 active Delta cases, including two from the latest run, while 1,962 have recovered, including 267 from the latest run. The outcome of two newly detected cases was still being verified.
Other variants
All the additional Alpha, Beta and P.3 cases are local, the DOH said.
One Alpha case is still active, one had died while 27 have been tagged as recovered.
There are now a total of 2,424 Alpha cases in the country, of which 19 are still active, 132 had died and 2,267 have recovered.
All the 28 additional Beta cases have been tagged as recovered.
There are now a total of 2,697 Beta cases, including 14 active cases, 98 deaths and 2,576 recoveries.
Of the 13 additional P.3 cases, one died while 12 recovered.
Of these four Sars-CoV-2 variants, only the P.3 is not a variant of concern. Formerly known as Theta, the P.3 has been downgraded to a variant under alerts for further monitoring.
The Alpha, Beta and Delta cases are all variants of concern along with Gamma (P.1). Only two Gamma cases have been detected in the country. Both have recovered.
The Delta variant, which originated in India, is the most transmissible among these variants as an infected person can infect up to eight others at one time, causing an exponential increase in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The DOH said the sharp rise of cases in the Philippines has coincided with the detection of the Delta variant.
Covid-19 cases in the country have exceeded 20,000 a day in the past three days. The DOH said the daily case count may still rise because of the Delta variant, possibly reaching 43,000 in the NCR alone. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)