Amid the limited capacity of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) to hold genome sequencing, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday, July 19, that it is best to assume that there is already local transmission of the Delta variant.
During the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Pandemic (CODE) Team visit in Cagayan de Oro City, Duque said the local transmission of Delta variant may be "underreported" due to limited genome surveillance studies outside the National Capital Region (NCR).
"Limited pa rin yung capacity ng Philippine Genome Center (Philippine Genome Center's capacity is still limited) to hold genome sequencing and this is why we have been saying that it's best to assume that there's already local transmission," Duque continued.
"We don't need to wait, it's enough to see the presence here and not necessarily linkable to an international traveler, this is already a sign of a possible local transmission," he added.
However, the Health secretary hopes that the results of the close contact of those who tested positive for Delta variant "would come up as soon as possible."
"The Philippine Genome Center, I believe, can only do a run of 700 each time. So we'll have to see once the region submits additional RT-PCR positive specimens, then they can already detect again if there's indeed local spread of Delta variant," Duque added.
The five Delta COVID-19 variant patients found in Cagayan de Oro City have recovered from illness, Mayor Oscar Mereno confirmed Monday.
Meanwhile, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said Monday, one close contact of the two Delta variant cases in Manila tested positive for COVID-19.
However, Domagoso said the sample did not need to be submitted for genome sequencing due to the high cycle threshold (CT) value, indicating a low viral load.
On July 16, the DOH reported 11 cases of the Delta variant. Of this figure, six were from Northern Mindanao, two were from Metro Manila, another two from Western Visayas, and a lone patient was from Central Luzon.
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