The highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant has been detected in all regions in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday, September 6.

Philippine health officials said 279 more cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant have been detected – including 245 local cases and 21 others that involve returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs). Details of the remaining 13 are still being verified. 

This raises the number of Delta variant cases in the Philippines to 2,068, even as experts fear many others remain undetected.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Mindanao (BARMM) was the last region without local cases of the Delta variant. On Monday, the DOH announced it detected five local Delta cases in BARMM.

In an advisory on Monday, the 245 local cases include the following: 

• 51 cases – National Capital Region
• 35 cases – Calabarzon
• 24 cases – Central Luzon
• 22 cases – Northern Mindanao
• 19 cases – Bicol Region
• 17 cases – Ilocos Region 
• 17 cases – Cagayan Valley
• 14 cases – Eastern Visayas
• 13 cases – Cordillera Administrative Region
• 10 cases – Davao Region
• 9 cases – Mimaropa
• 5 cases – Central Visayas
• 5 cases – BARMM
• 3 cases – Western Visayas
• 1 case – Zamboanga Peninsula

Amng the 279 newly detected cases, two cases were still active, while another eight have died, The remaining 267 cases were tagged as recovered, while the outcome of two more cases was being verified. 

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More cases with variants

Aside from Delta cases, an additional 29 cases with the Alpha variant, 28 cases with the Beta variant,  and 13 cases with the P3 variant were detected. 

The detection of more cases with variants comes at a critical point in the pandemic where cases continue to increase in the country as the government seeks to find new ways of opening up the economy after prolonged quarantine periods. 

The detection of additional cases with variants, health officials said, underscored the need for aggressive testing, contact tracing, case finding, granular lockdowns as needed, and the implementation of alternative working arrangements among the private sector.

The Philippines earlier reported its highest tally of daily new cases last September 1, pushing the country’s total caseload over 2 million. – Rappler.com