DOH reports 8 active Delta variant cases after retesting ‘recovered’ local patients

There are still eight active COVID-19 Delta variant cases of the 35 cases detected in the country, the Department of Health revealed on Tuesday.

Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing that one active case is in Manila, four in Cagayan de Oro, one in Misamis Oriental, and two are returning overseas Filipino workers.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, they were first classified as recovered patients by the local governments after undergoing a two-week isolation and a negative test. However, most of them have not been able to undergo a COVID-19 test after their 14th day of quarantine.
“When we went back because we were able to determine they had the Delta, we retested again,” Vergeire said.

She further clarified that the said active local cases have been under isolation and have not interacted with the community before they were listed again as active cases.

However, the local cases are yet to be considered as local transmission. Vergeire explained, “When you say local transmission, there is already evidence of linkage between and among these individuals who are positive with the Delta variant and that is what we are trying to determine right now. We need evidence so that we can be able to pronounce or declare that there is already [a] local transmission.”

Still, Vergeire reminded the public to assume that there is already a local transmission, prompting people to be more cautious.