MANILA – An additional 571 cases of the highly transmissible and dominant Delta variant of the coronavirus have been recorded nationwide.
In an online media forum, Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the new Delta variant cases were from a total of 629 samples collected and sequenced on December 6.
Of the samples collected and sequenced, about 571 or 90.78 percent were Delta variant cases, one case or 0.16 percent Alpha variant, and one case or 0.16 percent are Beta variant.
“There were five overseas Filipino samples sequenced – two were coming from the USA, one from Iraq, and one from Kuwait, and we are still verifying the country of origin for the last one. These samples were all positive for the Delta variant,” Vergeire added.
The new cases pushed the total Delta variant cases to 7,848, Alpha variant cases to 3,168, and Beta variant cases to 3,630.
The latest sequencing brought the number of total sequenced samples with assigned lineages to 19,305.
Vergeire 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, initially detected from returning overseas Filipinos, is now detected in all 17 regions and all NCR cities and its lone municipality.
Meantime, the P.3 variant, which was initially observed in only one region, is now detected in all regions. The Omicron, another newly identified variant, has yet to be detected in the country. (PNA)
