The Delta variant has also been detected in nearly all regions of the Philippines.
The Department of Health (DOH) has finally said there are “signs of” community transmission of the Covid-19 Delta variant in Metro Manila and Calabarzon.
However, the agency stressed there is still need for “further evidence” that the highly contagious coronavirus variant is now prevalent in these areas.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing Monday (August 23) that community transmission means there is a clustering of cases and there are no longer links among infected individuals.
“Currently, we have seen and observed, especially in NCR and Region 4A, na talagang mukhang community transmission na ito. Nakita natin na wala nang link ang mga kaso sa bawat isa. We are seeing clustering of cases in these two big regions,” she said.
“Definitely I can tell all of you, Region 4A and NCR, nandiyan na po [it is there], we can observe that already although we need further evidence but there is community transmission already in these areas,” she added.
Philippine Genome Center chief Dr. Cynthia Saloma had earlier said samples collected for genome sequencing in June already pointed to community transmission of the Delta variant.
The Philippines has so far detected 807 Delta variant cases.
The 807 Delta variant cases comprise 8.31 percent of the 9,706 sequenced samples as of August 15, according to DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman.
The Delta variant has also been detected in nearly all regions of the Philippines, except Caraga.
The Philippines on Sunday logged 16,044 additional cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases reported so far to 1,839,635.
Last August 20, the country also reported the highest number of new cases since the pandemic began in March 2020 with 17,231 additional cases.
(With report from GMA News)
Tags: #DepartmentOfHealth, #Covid19, #Deltavariant, #communitytransmission