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OCTA Research Fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said on Wednesday, Jan. 5, that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variant Omicron is the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported new 640 Delta coronavirus variant cases in the Philippines. In a statement on Monday, Sept. 13, the DOH said that 584 of the new cases were local cases, two were returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), and four cases are currently being verified if these are local or ROF cases. “Based on the case line list, three cases are still active, 13 cases have died, while 624 cases have been tagged as recovered. Case details are being validated by the regional and local health offices,” the DOH said. “Of the 584 local cases, top regions indicated as addresses of the cases were the National Capital Region with 112 cases, Cagayan Valley with 52, and Calabarzon with 49. There were two cases whose indicated address was the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” it added. The total Delta variant cases detected in the Philippines stood at 2,708.Other variant cases The DOH also detected the presence of new 28 Beta variant cases, 24 Alpha variant cases, and five P.3 variant cases in the latest batch of whole genome sequencing. The total Beta variant cases in the Philippines jumped to 2,725, Alpha variant cases at 2,448, and P.3 variant cases at 447. PGC testing In the same statement, the DOH said that the Philippine Genome Center will be “scaling down their COVID-19 RT-PCR testing services to shift their resources on the detection of COVID-19 variants through whole genome sequencing.” “The shift will lead to an expected increase in the sequencing capacity and detection of COVID-19 variant cases in the country in the succeeding months,” the DOH said.

Paris, France — The Delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 doubles the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant it has supplanted as the dominant strain worldwide, researchers reported Saturday in The Lancet.

There is no case of the highly contagious Delta variant in Muntinlupa, according to the City Health Office (CHO).

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, June 21, reported the detection of four additional Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases, 14 Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant cases, 21 Beta (B.1.351) variant cases, and one Theta (P.3) variant case.