The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, July 5, reported two more cases of the highly-transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant, which is believed to be driving the surge of infections in India.

The DOH said that the two new cases were returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) with travel history from Saudi Arabia. Both arrived in the Philippines on May 29 and have completed the 10-day quarantine period.

“They have been discharged from the quarantine facility after being tagged as recovered,” the DOH said.

The country now has 19 cases of this virus type. Of these, 18 recovered while one died.

More new cases of highly-infectious variant

The DOH also reported 132 new cases of the Alpha variant. Of these, 125 are local cases, one ROF, and six are being verified as to whether these are local or ROF cases.

“Based on the case line list, 15 cases have died and 117 cases have been tagged as recovered,” the DOH said. The country now has 1,217 cases of this virus type.

The Philippines also recorded 119 new cases of the Beta variant. The DOH said that 111 are local cases, two ROFs, and and six cases are being verified as to whether these are local or ROF cases.

The DOH said that based on its data, “three cases are currently active, 104 cases have been tagged as recovered, and 12 cases have died.”

The total Beta variant cases in the country are now 1,386.

Meanwhile, three new local cases of the Theta variant were also reported. They have already been tagged as recovered.

The DOH said that the Theta variant is “not identified as a variant of concern as current available data are insufficient to conclude whether the variant will have significant public health implications.”

Of the 19 Delta variant cases detected in the Philippines, 18 have recovered while 1 has died.

Here's the summary of the cases of the new COVID-19 variants from the DOH: @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/silsobAdz5

— Bonz Magsambol (@bnzmagsambol) July 5, 2021

The DOH on June 21 urged local governments to implement “strict” border control to prevent the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant that the World Health Organization warned is becoming globally dominant. – Rappler.com