The country has so far not yet recorded any local case of the Delta coronavirus variant, an official of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) said on Saturday, June 26.
Based on the genomic biosurveillance, the country still has 17 cases of the Delta variant and all of them were “incoming international travelers,” said PGC Health Program Director Eva Maria Dela Paz.
“Wala pa po tayong naitalang local cases as of our last sequencing (We have not recorded any local cases as of our last sequencing),” said Dela Paz in a televised briefing.
To prevent the spread of Delta variant in communities, the government should implement strict border control coupled with other measures such as compliance to health protocols, and protecting the population through vaccination.
“Ang mga taong may bakuna na sa COVID-19 na Delta variant ang kanilang virus, mas maliit ang pagkakataong maospital kumpara doon sa mga hindi nabakunahan. So importante pa rin ang pagpapabakuna (People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and contracted the Delta virus variant are less likely to be hospitalized compared to those who have not been vaccinated. So vaccination is still important),” she said.
Dela Paz reiterated that the Delta, which was first found in India, is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “variant of concern.”
“ nagdudulot ng mga banta sa kalusugang pampubliko tulad ng mas madali siyang makahawa o ‘di kaya po nakakapagdulot po siya nang mas malubhang sakit (It poses threat to public health such as it is more transmissible or may cause more serious illness),” she said.
Dela Paz also emphasized the importance of pushing down the number of cases to prevent the virus from mutating.
“Babalikan po natin ang nangyari sa India. One, they were having almost more than a hundred thousand cases a day noong kanilang surge (Let's look at what happened in India. One, they were having almost more than a hundred thousand cases a day during their surge),” she said.
“So, kapag po maraming kaso, bawat kaso po ay oportunidad ng virus upang siya ay mag-mutate. So, hahanap at hahanap po siya ng paraan para mag-survive. Ang mangyayari po, kailangan iwasan natin talaga iyong pagtaas ng mga kaso (So, when there are many cases, each case is an opportunity for the virus to mutate. So, it will find a way to survive. What will happen is that we really need to avoid that increase in cases),” she explained.