MANILA—The Philippines has detected 466 additional cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant, bringing the case load for the highly transmissible variant to 1,273.

The variant, first detected in India, was attributed to the collapse of the healthcare system in the densely populated nation, along with the uptick in cases in other Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.

In a statement, the Department of Health (DOH) said 442 of the additional cases are local, while 14 are returning overseas Filipinos (ROF). As of posting time, the DOH was also verifying whether the 10 other cases are returning overseas Filipinos or local.

The 442 local cases were detected in the following areas:

• 201 — the National Capital Region
• 69 — Central Luzon
• 7 — Cagayan Valley
• 49 — Calabarzon
• 14 — Mimaropa
• 4 — Bicol region
• 52 — Western Visayas
• 19 — Central Visayas
• 6 — Northern Mindanao
• 11 — Davao region
• 7 — Soccsksargen
• 3 — Ilocos region

Of these cases, one is still active, 8 have died and 457 have recovered.

This developed as the Philippines listed 18,332 new COVID-19 patients, its highest number of fresh cases in a single day since the coronavirus was first detected in the country in January 2020.

• Philippines logs 18,332 new COVID-19 cases, highest since pandemic began

The DOH said the government still needs additional information to declare a nationwide community transmission of the Delta variant. However, community transmission was identified in the NCR and Calabarzon.

"Community transmission was identified in Region IV-A and in NCR based on the following observations: 1. Large numbers of Delta cases and 2. Case investigations and phylogenetic analysis showed that these cases cannot be epidemiologically linked to each other nor source/s of infection determined," the DOH explained.

LOCAL CASES OF OTHER VARIANTS TALLIED

On top of this, DOH has also tallied 90 additional Alpha variant cases, 105 Beta variant cases, and 41 cases of the P.3 variant first detected in the Philippines.

Of the additional Alpha variant cases, a patient has died, 88 cases have been tagged as recovered while one remains active.

Eighty-nine of the new Alpha variant cases are local cases. With the new tally, there are already 2,322 Alpha variant cases.

Of the new Beta variant cases, 101 are local and four are ROFs. Four of the additional cases of the Beta variant, first found in South Africa, have died, while 99 have been tagged as recovered. The status of the two remaining cases was being verified, as of posting time. The total tally of the Beta variant cases is now at 2,588.

Of the P.3 variant cases, all are local cases, with 40 cases tagged as recovered, while the status of the other case is still being verified.

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