Only 16 are active, says DOH

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) - The Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 97 new Delta variant cases in the Philippines, pushing the total number of recorded carriers of the more virulent strain to 216.

As of Wednesday, only 16 of said cases are active, the DOH said.

Of the 97 additional cases, 88 were from locals, six are Filipinos returning from abroad, while the origin of three other carriers are still being verified, the agency said in a statement.

"Of the 6 returning overseas Filipinos, 2 are seafarers of MT Clyde and Barge Claudia, currently anchored off in Albay, while 4 are crew members of MV Vega that arrived from Indonesia," it said.

"Ninety-four cases have been tagged as recovered and 3 were fatalities," the DOH said.

The additional new Delta variant cases are broken down as follows:

• 32 in Central Visayas
• 25 in NCR
• 10 in Eastern Visayas
• 6 in Central Luzon
• 6 in Calabarzon
• 6 returning overseas Filipinos
• 3 in Western Visayas
• 3 for verification
• 2 in Davao Region
• 1 in Ilocos Region

The DOH said it is coordinating with the respective local government units to determine other information, such as their exposure and vaccination status.

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Aside from new Delta variant carriers, the DOH also recorded 83 additional Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant cases, 127 new Beta (B.1.351) variant cases, and 22 fresh P.3 variant cases.

"Following the detection of additional cases with variants of concern, it is imperative for local government units to immediately crush clusters of infection and observed increases in cases in their respective jurisdictions to reduce transmission," the DOH said.

"Regardless of the presence of a variant of concern, the management and interventions for these positive COVID-19 cases remain the same," it said.

The DOH urged the public to avail of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they can as these could help reduce the development of severe infection in patients.

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