The Department of Health (DOH) announced the detection of 16 new cases of the Delta variant of the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Of which, 11 were considered as local cases.
Five of the sixteen cases are returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during an online forum on Friday, July 16.
“One case arrived in the Philippines from the United Kingdom on April 26, 2021 and has been tagged as recovered after undergoing the 14-day quarantine period,” she said.
“Another two of these cases arrived in the Philippines from Qatar on June 15, 2021 and have also been tagged as recovered. The DOH is still verifying the arrival and quarantine status of the two other ROF cases,” she added.
Local cases
The 11 local cases, meanwhile, have been detected in Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas, National Capital Region (NCR), and Central Luzon, said Vergeire.
In Northern Mindanao, five cases were found in Cagayan De Oro, and one case in Misamis Oriental. All of them were already tagged as recovered.
For Western Visayas, two cases were found in Antique. Both have also been tagged as recovered.
In NCR, two cases were detected in the City of Manila. One case was tagged as “dead after being rushed to the emergency room of a hospital last June 28.” The other case was tagged as recovered, said Vergeire.
In Central Luzon, one case was detected in Pampanga. This patient has already recovered from COVID-19, said Vergeire.
“The DOH is in close coordination with the Centers for Health Development and Local Government Units to ensure that all cases have been or are appropriately traced and managed,” said Vergeire.
“The Bureau of Quarantine and the Department of Transportation are on high alert to implement strict border control measures,” she added.
When asked if there is already a local transmission of Delta variant cases in the Philippines, DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman “not yet.”
“Ako po (For me), I would say, not yet, because we haven’t been able to link that one case has been able to infect another,” she said.
Steps to mitigate spread
DOH-Technical Advisory Group Member Dr. Anna Ong-Lim emphasized anew the importance of strict border control. “It has been a significant factor in delaying some of our variants and particularly of Delta,” she said.
Vergeire, meanwhile, assured that the country’s healthcare capacity is ready to handle COVID-19 cases, saying that “additional beds were established.”
She also said that they are currently coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to ask manufacturers of oxygen tanks to produce more supply.
“Yung pinoproduce ngayon ng manufacturers is enough for our existing needs at meron pa tayong surplus. Tinignan din natin lahat ng ospital...lahat po sufficient ang supply sa ngayon (What the manufacturers are producing now is enough for our existing needs and we still have a surplus. We also looked at all the hospitals... all of them have sufficient supply so far),” said Vergeire.
“Nanghingi tayo ng tulong sa DTI kung maaring dagdagan pa yung pag produce because apparently in other countries, yung oxygen na kailangan pag naapektuhan ng Delta variant is twice as much as what we need in this current time. Sa ngayon na may surplus tayo, gusto pa natin dagdagan para mas magiging handa tayo (We sought help from the DTI if we can increase production (of oxygen tanks) because apparently in other countries, the oxygen needed for Delta variant cases is twice as much as what we need in this current time. Now that we have a surplus, we want to increase it further, so that we will be better prepared),” she added.
Ong-Lim also urged the local government units (LGUs) to intensify the implementation of prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate (PDITR) strategy to curb the transmission of COVID-19.
She also urged the public to strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards, particularly avoiding crowded places.
“Now that we have a more transmissible variant circulating locally, we need to make sure that no mass gatherings are held, even the small social gatherings that are held within families or workgroups,” said Ong-Lim.
“We should rethink these gatherings because these could be potential superspreader events,” she added.
Vaccination is also a key to fight the Delta variant and the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole, she said.
“Ang talagang malaking pagbabago na meron tayo ngayon (The huge change we have now) compared to earlier (part of the) pandemic is the fact that we have the vaccines.....Please, please be vaccinated,” Ong-Lim said as she urged those individuals who are already eligible to take the vaccines.
Philippine Genome Center (PGC) Executive Director Cynthia Saloma said that to curb the spread of the Delta variant, it requires a “whole nation approach.”
“We don’t want to experience the cases of our neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia... that requires a whole of nation approach and everybody’s cooperation,” said Saloma.