Some 52 returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) were among the 640 new Delta variant cases reported by the Department of Health (DOH) in the Philippines on Monday.
In its health bulletin, the DOH said 584 out of the 640 new Delta cases were local cases and 52 or or 8.13% were ROFs. Four cases are still under verification if they were local or ROF cases.
The new Delta variant cases brought the total infections of the more transmissible variant to 2,708, according to the DOH.
The DOH added that of the 584 local cases, 112 indicated addresses in the National Capital Region, 52 in Cagayan Valley, 49 in Calabarzon, and two in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Based on the case line list, three cases are still active, 13 cases have died, while 624 cases have been tagged as recovered. Case details are being validated by the regional and local health offices,” the DOH said.
Aside from the Delta variant, the DOH also reported new cases of other COVID-19 variants.
- Alpha variant: 24 new cases (one died, 23 recovered; total cases: 2,448)
- Beta variant: 28 new cases (all have recovered; total cases: 2,725)
- P.3 variant: five new cases (all have recovered)
“The UP-PGC (University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center) also announced that starting September 9 they will be scaling down their COVID-19 RT-PCR testing services to shift their resources on the detection of COVID-19 variants through whole-genome sequencing,” the DOH said.
“The shift will lead to an expected increase in the sequencing capacity and detection of COVID-19 variant cases in the country in the succeeding months,” it added.
