The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) has urged the province of Antique to continue with its contact tracing as additional local cases of the Delta variant were detected in the province.
On Aug. 6, the DOH WV CHD reported that 19 of the 31 additional local cases of the Delta variant in the region came from Antique.
The additional cases were from the 99 samples that were sent to the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) on July 23, 2021.
The additional detection raised the total Delta variant in Antique to 22.
It also has 14 Alpha, one Beta, and two Theta local cases.
In a virtual presser on Monday, DOH WV CHD medical officer III Daphynie Teorima said the purpose of the contact tracing is to determine the extent of the spread of the virus and to ensure it will be controlled.
She said the recovery of the patient should not serve as a basis for the contact tracing to stop.
“There is a delay when it comes to sequencing, that contact tracing has to be emphasized, (and) that it should be thorough,” she added.
She said they suspect there are still variants in Antique because the province has recorded the highest case growth in the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, Teorima said the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) has been making verification and contact tracing of the additional variants of concern that were reported by the PGC last week.
She said they have no date yet if there is already a community transmission of the Delta variant in the region, although there is a local transmission in some areas.
Local transmission, she added, means the source can still be traced.
“As of now, we have no confirmation of community transmission as per our RESU,” Teorima said.
As of Aug. 6, Western Visayas has already recorded 150 cases of variants of concern and 15 variants of interest (VOI), or Theta.
The variants included 39 local cases of the Alpha, 43 of Beta; 36 of Delta, and 13 of Theta.
The rest are among returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Source: Philippines News Agency