MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities on Thursday reported 12 new cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, as the Philippines braces for the new threat of the virus that is ravaging countries in Southeast Asia.
Today's development brought the total count of Delta infections at home to 47. Per the health department, the 12 are local cases who have since recovered.
Related Stories
Officials said six are from Central Luzon, three from the National Capital Region, two from CALABARZON, and one from Bicol Region.
"All cases have been tagged as recovered but their outcomes are being validated by our regional and local health offices."
READ: What we know so far about the Delta variant of COVID-19
On July 20, the DOH said it reclassified eight recoveries from the Delta as active cases after doing re-tests. All remain under quarantine, as well as their close contacts.
The number of deaths from the Delta variant has stayed at three, per authorities.
Delta was first identified in India, and is seen to be driving a significant increase in COVID-19 cases even in countries with high vaccination rates.
"With the detection of additional cases," the agency said, "it is crucial that we implement enhanced response immediately in the areas where these cases were detected and it is contiguous LGUs as well as areas with case spikes with the premise that there may be ongoing local transmission already."
DOH also reported 187 new cases of the Alpha variant, 142 of the Beta, and 12 more of the P.3. homegrown variant.
Alpha was first detected in the United Kingdom, Beta in South Africa and P.3. in the Philippines. This variant, however, was recently downgraded by the World Health Organization as a "variant of interest" to now a variant under "alerts for monitoring."