DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 August) – Four additional cases of the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19, one of whom is still active, were detected in Davao Region, bringing the total cases of this strain to 13 as of Sunday.
The DOH central office on Sunday reported 182 additional Delta variant cases nationwide, including three in the Davao region, bringing the regional total to 12. But the DOH Davao region, in a press release issued late Sunday night said there were four additional cases to include a returning overseas Filipino (ROF) with address in Nabunturan, Davao de Oro, who was swabbed in Manila.
According to the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao, the three other new cases were residents of Tagum City, Davao del Norte and Mati City, Davao Oriental.
The patient from Tagum is a 38-year-old pregnant woman who is an active case. She tested positive for COVID-19 after being swabbed at the Davao Regional Medical Center and has been in isolation at a temporary treatment and monitoring facility in Davao del Norte since July 23.
Mati’s first two cases of Delta variant are a 33-year-old male and a 32-year-old female. Both tested positive for COVID-19 last July 10 after based on the swab tests done by the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
The two have been tagged as recovered after completing isolation. They are scheduled for a repeat reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test.
The ROF with address in Nabunturan is a 41-year-old male who arrived in Manila last July 18 from Cairo, Egypt.
His swab test result on July 24 showed he tested positive for the infection and had since been put in isolation at a facility of the Bureau of Quarantine in Manila until August 3.
The ROF arrived at Davao International Airport last August 4. On the same day, was transported back to his hometown where he underwent another four days of isolation until August 8.
The agency said he is on strict home quarantine and has been scheduled for repeat RT-PCR test on August 17.
Of the total Delta cases in the region, six were reported in Davao City, two in Tagum City, one in Davao del Sur, one in Carmen in Davao del Norte, one in Nabunturan in Davao de Oro, and two in Mati.
As of August 15, DOH-Davao reported 59,994 cases with 8,079 active, 49,954 recoveries, and 1,961 deaths.
Of this total, Davao City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mindanao, logged 33,229 cases with 3,557 active, 28,574 recoveries and 1,098 deaths. Davao de Oro tallied 4,486 cases, Davao del Norte 11,248, Davao del Sur 5,312, Davao Occidental 1,464, and Davao Oriental 4,255. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
