The Philippines' health ministry announced on Friday that the country has confirmed its first death and locally transmitted instances of the more virulent Delta coronavirus type, as the government strives to ratchet up its immunisation effort, with nearly 400,000 inpiduals injected on Thursday.
According to Philippines' Health Under-Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, 11 of the 16 new COVID-19 cases reported to have contracted the new variant were locally acquired. According to Vergeire, one of the patients with the variation died after being transported to a hospital in Manila, the capital, on June 28.
Filipinos returning from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the United Kingdom were among those who tested positive.
Of the 11 local transmissions, at least six were detected in the southern island of Mindanao, two in the Metro Manila area, one in central Luzon and two in the central region of Visayas.
Vergeire had previously stated that the Delta variant could be 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant. The Alpha version carrier may infect up to eight people, while the variant carrier can infect four to five people.
After an increase in infections across the region, the country authorities have been scurrying to attempt to stop the variant from spreading in the community.
The variant, which was first discovered in India, has been blamed for a spike in infections not just in Asia Pacific but also in the United Kingdom.
The latest information on the Delta variant's spread comes as Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte approved the easing of severe lockdown regulations in Metro Manila, the enormous capital with a population of 13 million people, effective Friday. In four regions surrounding the capital, the lockdown has been loosened.
In those areas, business establishments such as restaurants and fitness centres are allowed to operate at 50 percent regular capacity.
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