MANILA, Philippines — The San Juan City government on Tuesday confirmed two cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, just a day after the Quezon City government confirmed cases in its locality, too.
In a statement sent to reporters, the city said that it was notified Monday that two residents, a 9-year-old and a 25-year-old, tested positive for the more infectious variant.
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According to the local government, the two tested positive towards the end of June but were tagged as recovered as of July 15 after undergoing 14-day quarantine.
The 25-year-old female patient was tested by a private hospital on June 28 and the result was forwarded to the City Health Office three days later on July 1.
The woman, an asymptomatic patient who works in a call center in another city in the capital region, finished her quarantine on July 13.
According to the San Juan LGU, she was an office mate and close contact of the 9-year-old male, who experienced a fever after his parents also tested positive for the pathogen.
His father was symptomatic with cough and colds while his wife was asymptomatic. The family underwent quarantine at the Kalinga Center starting July 1 and were all released on July 15.
"We only received information yesterday that they are indeed Delta variant cases, almost a week after they had completed their quarantine. Only the Philippine Genome Center has the capacity to conduct Genome Sequencing," San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said.
Zamora added that the local government was targeting to fully vaccinate 100% of its target population equivalent to 70% of our total population by the end of August.
San Juan, the smallest city in the Philippines, earlier said that it was gunning for a mid-July date to inoculates all its residents with coronavirus vaccines, though it ultimately failed to meet this.
"We are taking all necessary precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. All health and safety protocols are being strictly implemented while stringent contact tracing is being conducted to make sure we arrest the spread of the virus," Zamora said.