MANILA – At least 10 individuals who had close contact with the two cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Delta variant in Pandan, Antique are being monitored for symptoms.
“We are going back to these specific individuals, check on them, quarantine them again and test them again,” said Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire yesterday.
Friday last week, DOH disclosed that an elderly couple from Pandan, Antique were the first recorded infections of the Delta variant in Western Visayas.
They were hospitalized in Antique on May 27 and tested positive for COVID-19 on May 29. The husband recovered but the wife passed away.
Vergeire said DOH is set to conduct further study to determine how the two Antiqueños contracted the Delta variant despite not having a history of travel abroad.
The DOH official added they also wanted to determine if there had been a breach of protocol by those who returned to the country as it was “improbable” that the coronavirus mutated locally.
“Mukhang nagkaroon tayo ng mga breaches in [quarantine] protocol,” Vergeire said. “Kasi ang sabi ng health experts it is improbable na dito mag-mutate sa atin ang Delta variant.”
“The assumption ng mga health experts natin would be galing pa rin po sa labas ng bansa at nakapasok dito ang Delta variant,” added the health official.
The Philippines has so far detected 43 cases of the more transmissible Delta variant after eight new infections yesterday. None of the new detections were from Western Visayas./PN
