The Department of Health (DOH) expressed hope that the country’s Delta variant situation will not progress to “community transmission.”

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the government is now intensifying all its measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to prevent the spread in the communities of the more transmissible variant of coronavirus, which is the Delta.

“That is the objective. Kaya tayo nag-iigting ng ginagawang measures ngayon at tayo ay nakikipag usap sa local governments dahil ayaw natin na patuloy na kumalat ang mga variants of concern, specifically the Delta variant (That is the objective. That is why, we are intensifying the measures being undertaken now, and we are coordinating with the local governments because we do not want the variants of concern to continue to spread, specifically the Delta variant),” she said.

“Hopefully, we can be able to manage and control the spread and not into community transmission,” she added.

Vergeire said that out of the 47 Delta variant cases in the Philippines, 23 are considered “local transmission.”

“There is local transmission because we were able to establish the linkage of these cases---some of these cases with the other Delta variant,” she said.

“When you talk about local transmission, you can see the linkage of one individual tested for a COVID-19 virus or variant...in another individual. So, you are seeing the relationship of these different cases among each other,” she explained.

“Pero pag tinawag mo na siyang community transmission, you do not see this linkage anymore. Ibig sabihin, ganun na kadami ang kaso nung Sars-CoV-2 virus or marami ng variants at hindi mo na nakikita kung saan nagmumula (But when you call it community transmission, you don't see this linkage anymore. That means, there are so many cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus or so many variants and you can't see the origin anymore),” she furthered.

Vaccination status of Delta variant cases

In a related development, 18 out of the 47 confirmed Delta variant cases in the country are unvaccinated against the COVID-19, said Vergeire.

Vergeire said only two of the Delta variant cases have been fully vaccinated, while four have received just one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. She did not specify the vaccine brands that these cases have received.

“Eighteen ay hindi bakunado (Eighteen are not yet vaccinated),” said the DOH spokesperson.

The DOH, meanwhile, are still checking if the 23 others were vaccinated or not.

“For the rest, we are still getting the status of their vaccination,” said Vergeire.