After several denials, the Department of Health (DOH) also admitted yesterday that the Delta variant is the main reason for the increase in new COVID-19 cases in the country in recent days.
“Looking at our cases right now, it’s exponentially rising, so sa tingin po namin talaga Delta variant is driving the rise in the number of cases,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
But Vergeire also did not rule out that other variants of concern such as Alpha and Beta may also add to the new cases.
Despite this, Vergeire clarified that the DOH still cannot confirm whether there is indeed community transmission of the Delta variant in the country.
“Our whole genome sequencing cannot provide us that evidence yet that’s why we cannot officially pronounce, although as I’ve said, we now treat this as community transmission, and we are acting towards that direction,” said Vergeire.
However, it is said that the Delta variant will have ‘community transmission’ due to its ‘high-transmissible’ nature or its faster transmission.
The official also stressed that the strict enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila from August 6 to 20 would help prevent the increase of up to 15,000 daily cases of COVID-19.
DOH admits COVID-19 surge due to Delta variant
“If we are going to continue and we will not have these kinds of restrictions, we can reach up to 500,000 active cases by the end of September,” Vergeire warned.
Based on the Department of Health (DOH) data, the National Capital Region (NCR) and NCR Plus – which includes Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal – showed a rapid increase in cases.
NCR, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley region, and Central Visayas are also in the “high risk” classification.
In fact, of the 36 areas monitored by the DOH due to the “moderate” to “high risk” classification, 8 were detected local cases of the more contagious Delta variant.
There are also 21 areas monitored due to high or critical levels of health care and intensive care unit utilization rate.
11 Delta variant cases were detected in those areas in Bataan, Lapu-Lapu City, and Laguna.
In NCR, 9 cities saw Delta variant cases while Las Piñas and Manila saw the most cases.