Delta variant cases seen in 13 regions in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly all regions in the Philippines now have confirmed cases of the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19, a health official said Monday.
The country has 450 infections to date of the variant that is seen to be driving a surge across Southeast Asia.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a briefing said Metro Manila has the highest Delta case count at 146 out of the 13 regions with reported cases.
She told reporters that all cities in the capital region and its lone municipality already have confirmed cases.
Calabarzon follows in that list with 47 Delta infections, Central Luzon with 39, Central Visayas with 37, and Western Visayas with 36.
That leaves these areas without cases, to date: Mimaropa, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and BARMM.
Health officials have confirmed local transmission of the variant but maintained there is no community transmission yet.
The latter means there are already many cases and authorities can no longer see how they are linked.
Vergeire said 426 of the 450 Delta infections in total have recovered, with the death toll now at 10.
Active cases in the country is at 13, while one is still being verified.
Most of them are local cases or 355 of them, 69 returning Filipinos from overseas, and 26 still up for verification.
On their vaccination status, the health official said 35 have received two doses of a COVID-19 jab and 17 with one dose.
Some 83 are unvaccinated, and 315 still being checked.
The government has tightened restrictions anew following the detection of more individuals with the Delta variant, and as the country faces another uptick in infections.
As it stands, the Philippines has returned to a "high-risk" COVID-19 classification, when less than two weeks ago it was under "moderate" risk status.
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