Delta subvariant not yet detected in Philippines , DOH says
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health has not detected Delta sublineage reported in Europe in its monitoring of COVID-19 cases in the country, the agency said Friday.
In a statement, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also said that experts are still looking into the potential impact of the Delta AY.4.2. sublineage on transmissibility.
She added that health authorities are monitoring 46 sublineages of the Delta variant, but “the particular Delta sublineage has not yet been detected among the COVID-19 positive samples sequenced in the country.”
Earlier this week, the Britain reported that it was monitoring a subvariant of the AY.4.2 variant, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman has said that there was no evidence it spreads more easily.
Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology at University College London, said AY.4.2 has two spike mutations found in other coronavirus variants and was first sequenced in April 2020.
He added: “AY.4.2 is still fairly low frequency, a 10 percent increase in its transmissibility could have caused only a small number of additional cases,” he added.
Vergeire for her part stressed that while investigation of the AY.4.2. sublineage is ongoing, “COVID-19 cases should be managed similarly as per current protocols.”
“Current evidence also showed that the presence or absence of a variant of interest or concern among cases do not dictate the appropriate clinical management,” she added.
Vergeire called on the public to continue adhering to minimum public health standards to curb transmission and slow down the appearance of mutations of the coronavirus. She also urged Filipinos to get fully vaccinated as protection against severe COVID-19.
The DOH on Monday reported 4,806 more COVID-19 infections, pushing the national caseload to 2,740,111. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from Agence France Presse
Local and global updates on COVID-19 cases, outbreaks and containment efforts due to the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India. (Main image: Lockdown in Sydney, Australia in June 2021 by AFP/Saeed Khan)
The Delta variant remains dominant and experts, governments and vaccine makers are urging people to take advantage of booster jabs where they are available.
Delta has proved able to evade vaccine defences against transmission better than the Alpha, Beta and Gamma COVID-19 variants.
But jabs have remained highly effective at preventing severe illness from Delta, lowering the risk of overwhelming hospital resources. — AFP
The DOH reports 520 new cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, bringing the total in the Philippines to 5,331.
The new COVID-19 Delta subvariant has not yet been detected in the Philippines, the Department of Health says.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says health authorities are monitoring 46 sublineages of the Delta variant, but “the particular Delta sublineage has not yet been detected among the COVID-19 positive samples sequenced in the country.”
Experts, however, are looking into the potential impact of the Delta AY.4.2. sublineage on transmissibility.
The Department of Health reports 633 additional cases of the Delta variant.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the additional infections account for 84.63% of the 748 samples tested on October 16.
The DOH reports 411 more cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant in the country.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the new Delta variant cases come from 747 samples collected from February to September.
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