Northern Mindanao sees surge in cases of Alpha, Beta, Delta variants

The Department of Health (DOH) in Northern Mindanao confirmed that 48 cases of COVID-19 with variant lineages from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India have so far been detected in the region.

Dr. David Mendoza, an epidemiologist who heads the DOH-10’s Local Health Support Division, said on Thursday, July 29, that Northern Mindanao registered 11 Alpha (B.1.1.7), 23 Beta (B.1.351), and 14 Delta (B.1.617.2) variants.

“We have a total of 48 variant cases in Northern Mindanao,” said Mendoza. “So, we are now complete.”

Mendoza did not say exactly where the variants were detected, but the DOH earlier announced that there were 5 Delta variants in Cagayan de Oro City, one in Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental province, and another in Talakag town in Bukidnon province.

Another area in Bukidnon, Valencia City, has worried the region’s health officials after it registered a two-week growth rate of 243.01% as of July 27.

Mystery case

Dr. Gary Tabios Jr., Bukidnon’s provincial health officer, confirmed to Rappler that an Alpha variant case was detected in Valencia City.

According to Mendoza, the Alpha variant carrier is a six-year-old child who has been under quarantine since June, even before the detection of the first documented Delta variant cases in the region.

The case baffled DOH investigators since they could not identify any carrier who may have infected the child.

Tabios said the child has no history of travel, and Mendoza added that health authorities were looking at it as a case of local transmission.

“The child is waiting for a second RT-PCR test. We are looking into it… COVID-19 cases are spread all over Valencia…but this cannot be traced to other cases,” Mendoza said. 

He said they could not establish that the child had contracted the virus from anyone who came from outside Valencia.

All close contacts of the child tested negative for the Alpha variant, including the carrier’s uncle who has since recovered from COVID-19.

What Mendoza said with certainty was that Valencia was in critical status based on how COVID-19 cases have been spreading there in the last two weeks despite its relatively stricter quarantine measures.

“Our team’s investigation is ongoing, and they are analyzing the data,” he said.

Mendoza said backtracking work has also been stepped up as the investigators tried to determine how the child contracted the Alpha variant, and all the child’s contacts were still being observed.

“Backtracking is much more difficult than simple contact tracing. We will go back [in time],” said Mendoza, explaining that the investigation would cover several months before June when the child was tested positive for the Alpha variant. – Rappler.com