MORE than half of the coronavirus-positive samples included in the latest genome sequencing run contained the highly infectious Delta variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday, October 11, 2021.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 411 new cases were detected, bringing the total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases in the country to 3,798.
The Delta cases comprise 26.16 percent — more than one in four sequenced cases — of the 14,517 samples sequenced by the University of the Philippines Philippine Genome Center.
Following Delta closely is the Beta (B.1.351) variant with 3,307 cases and Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant with 2,935 cases.
In the latest sequencing run that was completed on October 8, Vergeire said the UP-PGC sequenced 747 samples that were collected in February, April, May, August and September 2021.
Aside from the 411 cases of Delta variant, there were also 88 cases of Alpha and 78 cases of Beta.
Other Sars-CoV-2 lineages found in samples collected in the Philippines are the P.1 or Gamma, P.3, C.37 or Lambda, and six others.
In the National Capital Region, Vergeire said Delta is “now the dominant variant.”
The Delta variant, which can infect up to eight people at one time, has already been detected in all 17 regions in the country.
All regions also have either Alpha or Beta cases.
The detection of the Delta variant, beginning May 2021, coincided with a sharp increase in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the Philippines. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)