Delta cases in Oro shoot up to 37

By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent

AT least 24 new cases of the Delta variant of the SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, have been detected across Mindanao, health officials said.

In its August 23 briefer, the Department of Health, the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center said they have detected 11 new delta variant cases in the Davao region, seven cases in Region 12, and six cases in Northern Mindanao.

The DOH said the 24 new cases are part of 422 local cases detected by lab tests at the Philippine Genome Center.

There are now a total of 54 cases of the highly infectious Delta variant in Mindanao, according to DOH figures.

Six of the 24 new cases have been detected here in Cagayan de Oro City, which has now the highest number of Delta variant cases at 37.

Dr. Ted Yu of the City Health Office said they have traced the cases to four females living in Barangay Lumbia and two males — one residing in Barangay Macasandig and the other one in Barangay Bulua.

“The three females in Barangay Lumbia belongs to one household,” Yu said during the press briefing Tuesday.

Yu said medical front liners are going about locating five of the patients that have been already released.

He said the sixth, a son of an earlier Delta variant case, is still recuperating at an isolation unit in Cagayan de Oro.

Mayor Oscar Moreno directed the CHO to ramp up the vaccination of residents and increase the contact tracing as a deterrent to the Delta variant.

“This is the preventive measure against the highly infectious Delta variant,” Moreno said. “Wear a mask, face shield, and practice social distancing.”