The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Monday (Aug. 16) that the first recorded Lamba variant case in the country is a local case, or a 35-year-old pregnant woman from Region 6.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing today that they have yet to determine the case’s pregnancy and vaccination status. She was asymptomatic and was tagged as recovered, but will undergo swabbing anew for a repeat test.
“Kailangan nating maintindihan na noong na-diagnose na po itong pasyente na ito nung July 22 through RT PCR, the contact tracing and other actions were already done so ‘di po tayo amiss sa mga ganitong action kapag tayo ay nakaka-detect ng mga kasong positibo,” Vergeire said.
Meanwhile, the DOH said almost all regions have already recorded Delta variant cases after the detection of 182 additional cases on Aug. 15, composed of 36 returning overseas Filipinos, 112 local cases, and 34 that have yet to be verified.
Caraga region still has no reported Delta case. However, Vergeire said this does not mean the absence of the variant in the said area.
“Katulad nga ng sabi natin, ‘yung sampling po kasi na ginagamit natin doesn’t really cover that much of the population for us to determine kung nasaan na siya sa mga regions,” she said.
In total, there are 807 Delta cases in the country, 2,232 Alpha cases, and 2,483 Beta cases. Philippine Genome Center (PGC) sequencing shows that Delta is becoming the dominant variant in the country.
“The Delta variant really has overtaken the other variants of concern. ‘Di ba po dati marami tayong Beta saka Alpha. Ngayon po, sa ating mga samples na ating na-sequence, pinaka-marami na po ang Delta variant,” PGC Exec. Dir. Dr. Cynthia Saloma said.
Increasing cases
OCTA Research expressed caution on the possible rise of COVID-19 daily cases of up to nearly 16,000 cases next week. The nationwide reproduction number of COVID-19 is at 1.5.
“Mas magandang implementation ng ECQ [enhanced community quarantine], mas makikita natin ‘yung magandang results,” Prof. Ranjit Rye said.
“So optimistic pa rin kami na may magandang lalabas dito, babagal ‘yung R [reproduction number] natin definitely by the end of the first two weeks,” he added. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
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