Philippines Detects First Local Transmission Of Delta Variant

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published July 16, 2021 | 01:15 PM

MANILA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Jul, 2021) The Philippines has recorded the country's first locally transmitted cases of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the health ministry said on Friday, with one person dying from the disease.

Of the 16 new COVID-19 cases found to have contracted the Delta variant, 11 were tagged as locally acquired cases, Health Under-Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news conference.

One person had died after being rushed to a hospital in the capital Manila on June 28, Vergeire said.

Philippine authorities have been scrambling to try and stop the variant from spreading in the community after it has triggered an upsurge in infections across the region.

The variant, first detected in India, has been blamed as the key factor for the spike in cases in neigbouring countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.