The Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday, Aug. 23, that it has “observed” a community transmission of the Delta variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon).

But despite these observations, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH still needs “further evidences” to officially declare a community transmission.

“Currently we have seen and observed, especially in NCR and Region 4-A, na talagang mukhang community transmission na ito (it really looks like community transmission),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

“Nakita natin na wala nang link ang mga kaso sa bawat isa (We have seen that the cases are no longer linked to each other). We are seeing clustering of cases in these two big regions,” she added.

Citing the World Health Organization (WHO), Vergeire explained that community transmission means that there is a clustering of cases, and that there is no linkages found between the cases that have been identified.

“For us to be able to pronounce or to confirm that there is community transmission, we need further evidences and alam niyo na yung ating pagde-detect ng mga variants ay limitado sa ngayon (you know that our detection of variants is currently limited),” she said.

“But definitely, I can tell all of you, Region 4-A and NCR naandyan na (it is already there). We can observe that already. Although we need further evidence, but there is community transmission already in these areas,” she added.

In a recent public briefing, the Health department said a community transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus variant is likely present in the country, but it noted that more evidence is needed before it can be officially declared.

The DOH made the statement after Philippine Genome Center (PGC) Executive Director Cynthia Saloma said in a radio interview that a community transmission of the Delta variant is already happening in the country.

So far, there are 807 cases of Delta variant that has been detected in the Philippines.

‘Actions geared towards community transmission’

Meanwhile, Vergeire said the steps undertaken by the government following the detection of the Delta variant in the country are “geared towards that level of community transmission already.”

“For this Delta variant, katulad ng aming sinabi mula nung umpisa tayong makadetect ng variant na ito, ay sinabi natin (as we have said since the beginning when we detected this variant, we have said) that we are assuming that there is already community transmission),” she said.

“The Department of Health, together with the whole of government, has been acting as if there is already community transmission from the start,” she added.