KALIBO, Aklan – The province of Aklan has confirmed five new cases of the Delta variant of the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Three of them were residents of Banga town.
The Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported on Sept. 14 that all but one recovered from the disease.
Three male residents, aged 39 to 46, from Banga and a 54-year-old woman from Ibajay have been tagged as recovered.
A 58-year-old male from Ibajay, however, died from COVID-19-related complications.
The specimens were collected by the Western Visayas Medical Center subnational laboratory from Aug. 2 to 16 for genomice sequencing at the Philippine Genome Center.
To date, Aklan has tallied 27 Delta variant cases.
The variant (B.1.617.2), first identified in India, has been declared a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization because it causes more severe illness and appears to be more transmissible.
Provincial Health Officer II Dr. Victor Santamaria urged to public to remain vigilant, get vaccinated and adhere to health guidelines.
The PHO directed local government units to conduct immediate tracing of close contacts for the five confirmed Delta variant cases.
As of Sept. 12, the Department of Health in Western Visayas also recorded four cases of Beta variant, three cases of Theta variant and one case of Alpha variant for the province of Aklan./PN
