MANILA – Another 411 cases of the coronavirus Delta variant have been recorded nationwide, a health official said Monday.
In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported a total of 747 samples collected in February, April, May, August, and September were sequenced on October 8.
Of the collected samples, about 88 cases or 11.8 percent are Alpha variant cases; 78 cases or 10.4 percent are Beta variant cases, and 411 cases or 55 percent are Delta variant cases.
The remaining 170 samples have other lineages.
“These are other lineages detected pero hindi pa sila (but are not yet) classified ng [by the] WHO [World Health Organization] as variant of interest or variant of concern,” Vergeire said.
To date, a total of 16,399 samples have been sequenced. These include 946 samples from incoming international travelers.
She noted that all regions and all cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region (NCR) either have Alpha or Beta variants detected.
The Delta variant, she added, which was initially detected from returning overseas Filipinos, is now detected in all 17 regions and all municipalities in the NCR.
Meantime, the P.3 variant which was initially observed in only one region, is now detected in all regions.
As of 4 p.m. on Monday, the country has recorded 2,674,814 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 2,536,260 recoveries, 98,894 active infections and 39,660 deaths. (PNA)
