THE total number of Delta variant cases in the country is now 807 as the Department of Health yesterday reported 182 moire infections of the highly transmissible coronavirus (COVID-19) variant..
A first case of infection with the Lambda (C.37) variant has also been detected by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC)
The Lambda variant, which was first identified in Peru in December, was classified by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” after laboratory studies showed it has mutations that resist vaccine-induced antibodies.
The DOH said of the 182 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases, 112 are local cases, 36 are Filipinos returning from overseas, and 34 are under verification as to the origin.
It also said that among the 112 local cases, 42 cases “had indicated addresses” in the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by 36 cases in Central Luzon, eight in Calabarzon, six each in the Mimaropa Northern Mindanao regions, four in Central Visayas, three in the Davao and Caraga regions, two in Western Visayas, and 1 case each in the Cordillera Administrative Region and in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
One case is still active, 176 cases have been tagged as recovered, four cases have died, and one case has an outcome that is being verified.
“All other details are being validated by the regional and local health offices,” said the DOH.
The health department also said that two cases tagged as Delta in earlier sequenced batches were found to be Beta cases after verification.
The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is now present in at least 100 countries while the Beta variant, first found in South Africa, and has spread to at least 20 other countries.
The DOH said the first Lambda case in the country is a 35-year-old female. The case was asymptomatic and tagged as recovered after undergoing the 10-day isolation period.
The DOH said it is conducting “back tracing and case investigation.”
OTHER VARIANTS
The DOH said other variants continue to be detected — 41 Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases, 66 Beta (B.1.351), and 40 P.3 variant cases.
Among the additional 41 Alpha variant cases detected, 38 were local cases, one is a returning overseas Filipino (ROF), and two are under verification as to whether they are local or ROF cases.
Of the 41, two have died, 36 cases have recovered, and three cases have outcomes that are being verified.
Also, upon verification, two Alpha variant cases initially tagged in NCR last August 4 were verified to be Beta variant cases.
There is also one Alpha variant case tested by one COVID-19 laboratory that had two samples that were both sequenced. A sample of another Alpha variant case was sequenced twice and yielded the same result.
“Correcting for all these resulted in a reduction of four cases from the total case counts for the Alpha variant,” said the DOH.
With these, the total number of Alpha variant cases is now 2,232.
Of the additional 66 Beta variant cases, 56 were local cases and 10 cases are under verification whether local or ROF cases.
Based on the case line list, two cases have died, 63 cases have recovered, and one case is under verification.
Also, among the 127 total Beta variant cases reported on July 29, the DOH verified two cases initially tagged in NCR were reported as duplicates.
In addition, it was verified that two Beta variant cases tested from a single laboratory each had two samples that were both sequenced.
“This results in four cases deducted from the total Beta variant case counts,” said the DOH.
After verification, the country now has 2,483 Beta cases.
Of the 40 additional cases of the P.3 variant first detected in the Philippines in March, 37 were local cases and three cases are under verification.
Based on the case line list, all 40 cases have recovered.
The DOH said the PGC also reclassified six cases previously detected to have non-VOC (variant of concern) lineages as being P.3.
In all, there are now 347 P.3 variant cases in the country.
