ILOILO City – Cases of various variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in Western Visayas reached 630.
Data (as of Nov. 1) from the Department of Health’s (DOH) Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit showed 542 of the variant cases were local, 41 were repatriated overseas Filipinos (ROFs), 27 were tagged to other regions, and 20 were to be verified.
Broken down per variant, the region had 311 cases of the highly contagious Delta – 289 local cases, six ROFs, 11 tagged to other regions and five to be verified.
Most of the Delta cases were detected in Iloilo province with 89, followed by Bacolod City – 44, Iloilo City – 39, Capiz – 36, Negros Occidental and Antique with 30 each, Aklan – 28, and Guimaras – 15.
For the Alpha variant, 113 cases were recorded in the region, of which 87 were local cases, 17 ROFs, three tagged to other regions, and six for verification.
Meanwhile, 114 Beta variants were detected: 79 local cases, 15 ROFs, 13 from other regions, and seven for verification.
As to the Theta (P3) variant, 90 cases have been reported in the region, of which 86 were ROFs, two local cases while another two were to be verified.
Meanwhile, one case each of the Gama (ROF) and the Lambda variant case (local) were detected in the region.
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 still no case of the Mu variant detected in the region.
Mu was first detected in Colombia in January and classified by WHO as a Variant of Interest (VOI).
Iloilo province had the most number of cases of COVID-19 variants at 186 followed by Bacolod City – 90, Negros Occidental – 83, Iloilo City – 77, Antique – 73, Capiz – 52, Aklan – 36, and Guimaras – 34.
DOH has yet to provide data on recoveries and active variant cases./PN
