Girl, 2, is Zambales’ first Delta case

IBA, Zambales, Philippines — A two-year-old girl is the first case of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 in this province, Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane said yesterday.

He said the parents of the child tested positive for COVID-19.

The mother of the girl, who is a nurse, first contracted the virus. She was found infected on July 29.

Ebdane said local authorities are wondering why only the child, who is asymptomatic, contracted the Delta variant.

Ebdane asked the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 to coordinate with the provincial health office, local rural health units and other concerned agencies on the measures to be implemented to prevent the spread of the virus.

Ebdane had earlier placed the province under general community quarantine amid a spike in new cases.

Zambales logged 89 new cases on Friday, bringing the active infections to 892.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH) regional office said the number of Delta cases rose to 14 after two more were detected.

DOH regional director Exuperia Sabalbarino said both patients are returning overseas Filipinos.

The first case is a resident of Hilongos, Leyte, who is quarantined in Manila.

The other patient is a woman who is eight months pregnant and arrived in Tacloban on Aug. 9. She is in isolation in Hindang town, also in Leyte.

Authorities said both patients were unvaccinated. – Miriam Desacada