By Ana Rufa Padua

Sixteen new cases of the Delta variant were reported by the Department of Health (DOH) early morning of July 16, 11 of these cases were said to be local cases while the other five were from returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).

Six of the 11 local cases of delta variant were found in Northern Mindanao, two in NCR, two in Western Visayas, and one addressed in Central Luzon but tested in NCR. 

As for the returning overseas Filipinos, two arrived from Qatar on June 15 and one arrived from the United Kingdom on April 26. DOH is still verifying the status and arrival dates of the remaining two ROFs.

Fifteen out of the 16 patients have already recovered, while one death was recorded. 

DOH also reported that one of the 16 new cases has been fully vaccinated, the rest have yet to be inoculated.

“The others have not yet been vaccinated and we have 2 other cases na kino-confirm natin kung nabakunahan na o hindi.” DOH said.

DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Alethea De Guzman said that the department is still investigating whether the cases are directly related to each other to verify whether they are local transmissions.

“It is sporadic in some of the areas. Ini-investigate pa natin kung may linkage na sila sa isa’t isa at saan nila nakuha itong Delta variant na ito,” De Guzman said.

Delta variant is 60% more contagious and has caused surges across the world, however experts remind the public that vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalization due to the COVID-19 variant.

In accordance with this, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced an updated quarantine restriction from July 22 to July 31 with the help of recommendations from the DOH Technical Advisory Group and the Technical Working Group on COVID-19 Variants.

Iloilo province, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, and Gingoog City will undergo Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), General Community Quarantine with heightened restriction (GCQ with heightened restrictions) will be implemented in Antique City, and Misamis Oriental will move from Modified General Community Quarantine to GCQ. 

The rest of the country will follow the quarantine restrictions announced on July 15, 2021.

]REFERENCES:

ABS-CBN [ABS-CBN News]. (2021, July 16). UPDATE: DOH clarifies LOCAL CASES of 

Delta variant confirmed, but LOCAL TRANSMISSION still being investigated. [Tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1415880755813568516?s=20

ABS-CBN [ABS-CBN News]. (2021, July 16). JUST IN: #COVID19 task force places

 following areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the toughest of 4 lockdown levels, until [Tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1415901821290246144?s=20

Inquirer. (2021, July 16). JUST IN: DOH reports detection of 16 more cases of the Delta 

variant of COVID-19 in the Philippines. | [Tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/1415865877694607360?s=20