MANILA — Health officials detected 630 more cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in the Philippines on Monday from samples gathered in previous months.
Delta cases accounted for 94.59 percent of the 666 samples that were sent for whole genome sequencing, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
In a briefing, she confirmed that these were gathered from March up to this month. DOH has noted it is doing retrospective testing to trace the origins of the Delta variant in the country.
Vergeire’s data also revealed that the Delta currently accounts for 36.89 percent, or 6,612 of the total 17,925 samples having lineages.
Alpha now has 17.46 percent or 3,129 confirmed cases in the country, while Beta, which was first discovered in South Africa, has 19.96 percent or 3,577 infections.
The Philippines, as well as the National Capital Region, have maintained a low-risk COVID-19 classification.
This came after months of hard lockdown imposed in response to a spike in coronavirus cases that reached over 26,000 per day.
More restrictions have already been lifted, particularly as the holiday season approaches. Nonetheless, authorities urge the people not to become complacent and to continue adhering to health protocols.
As of now, the Philippines has recorded 2.81 million COVID-19 cases, with 45,581 fatalities.
