The Department of Health (DOH) said that eight coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with the Delta variant in the Philippines have died.
The DOH said that six of the fatalities were local cases, while the two others were returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Of the six local cases, two fatalities were recorded in Cordova, Cebu; and one death each were recorded in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte; Balanga, Bataan; Pandan, Antique; and Pandacan, Manila.
It also said that the age range of the fatalities is from 27 to 78 years old. Five of the eight deaths were males, while three were females.
Of the eight fatalities, three of them were unvaccinated. The DOH is still verifying the vaccination status of the five others.
"We are continuously validating and verifying," said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
To note, the total Delta variant cases in the country stood at 216.
Community transmission
Vergeire said that health authorities are still studying whether there is already a community transmission of the Delta variant of coronavirus in the Philippines.
“Sa ngayon nakikita pa rin natin ang pagkaka-link ng mga kasong ito sa isa’t isa... Pero siyempre, gusto pa rin natin maghanda dahil hindi po natin masasabi sa ngayon dahil hindi naman natin tine-test lahat ng merong sakit na positive sa COVID-19 (Right now, we can still see the link between these cases... But of course, we still want to prepare because we can't say right now because we don't test everyone who is positive for COVID-19),” said Vergeire.
“We just need to act as if there is already this type of transmission happening in the country para mas maging cautious tayong lahat, meron tayong (so that we can all be more cautious, we have) extra precaution. But for now we cannot declare that because we need evidence for us to say that there is really community transmission of the Delta variant,” she added.
The DOH last July 22 confirmed that there is already a "local transmission" of the Delta variant in the country.
The DOH said that local transmission is wherein cases still have links to one another. Meanwhile, community transmission is an increasing number of local cases whose links cannot be established.