ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 31 Aug) – The Department of Health Regional Office 9 (DOH-9) said 12 new Delta variant cases were added to the Zamboanga Peninsula region.
The city of Zamboanga, meanwhile, has five additional cases, Dr. Dulce Ann Miravite, Zamboanga City health officer, said in a virtual presser Sunday evening. They reportedly come from one household with one index case working in a local shipping company.
Aside from the Delta variant cases in Zamboanga City, the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units (RESU-9) said Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte has three new cases each, while Zamboanga Sibugay has one.
Region 9 has a total of 14 Delta variant cases as of Aug. 29, according to RESU-9. There was one case previously reported in Zamboanga City and another in Zamboanga Sibugay.
Miravite said that the latest genomic sequencing results from the Philippine Genome Center was released through DOH-9.
She said that aside from the five Delta variant cases in the city, there is also one Alpha or the U.K. variant and three Beta or the South African variant.
Miravite said that of the Beta variant cases, one died and two are now on the road to recovery.
The five Delta variant cases, she said, are “asymptomatic and well, and for completion of quarantine.”
Since March of this year, Zamboanga has had 114 cases of Beta variant cases identified, where 20 died and the remaining 94 recovered. There have been 19 cases of the Alpha variant, who all recovered.
There have been a total of six cases of the Delta variant, and one case of the Theta (or Philippine) variant, said Miravite.
The health official called on residents to continue complying the minimum public health standards of hand hygiene, wearing face mask and face shield and maintain physical distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19. (Frencie Carreon / MindaNews)