KALIBO, Aklan – Aklan has not yet recorded any Delta variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – the only province in Panay Island to be so.
The highly transmissible variant has already appeared in Capiz (two), Antique (19) and Iloilo (seven) provinces, according to the latest genomic sequencing of the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center. Iloilo City also had three cases.
Aklan recorded just under 10,000 total COVID-19 infections and 184 have died since the pandemic began last year. As of Friday last week, the seven-day rolling average of new infections was 200 cases per day.
Aklan governor Florencio Miraflores said the surging cases is likely due to the present of Delta variant even if not detected.
With the troubling figures, the governor reminded people to follow health guidelines to avoid causing cases and hospitalizations to rise.
The Delta variant, also known as B. 1.617.2, is about 50 percent more contagious than the Alpha variant. The variant is spreading rapidly worldwide mainly among the unvaccinated.
People infected with the Delta variant carry up to 1,000 more times more virus in their nasal passages that other strains./PN
