ILOILO City – In Western Visayas, cases of variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), reached 482.
Eight-two percent or 395 of these were local cases; 41 returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs); 26 tagged to other regions; and 20 for verification, data from the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 6 showed.
Broken down per variant, there are now 176 cases of the highly contagious Delta detected in the region, 155 of which were local cases, six ROFs, 10 tagged to other regions, and five to be verified.
For the Alpha variant, 112 cases were recorded, of which 86 local, 17 ROFs, three tagged to other regions and six for verification.
For the Beta variant, total cases in the region reached 111 – 76 local, 15 ROFs, 13 tagged to other regions, and seven for verification.
As to the Theta (P3) variant, 81 cases have been reported in the region, of which 77 were ROFs, two local cases and two for verification.
Meanwhile, there was only one Gama variant case in Region 6, an ROF, and a local case of the Lambda variant.
The Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants are classified as “variants of concerns” because they seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States.
The Theta is a new COVID-19 variant officially designated as Lineage “P.3” detected in the Philippines on March 2021. It has been classified recently by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a variant under “alert for further monitoring” because of its decreased and sporadic detection.
Meanwhile, there is no Mu, the newest variant, detected in the region.
Mu was first detected in Colombia in January and classified by WHO as a Variant of Interest.
As of Sept. 29, Iloilo province had the most number of cases of COVID-19 variants with 143, followed by Antique, 72; Bacolod City, 64; Iloilo City, 61; Negros Occidental, 56; Aklan, 35; Guimaras, 27; and Capiz, 24./PN
