March 29, 2024

There are now two cases of the Delta variant of the Covid-19 in the Cordillera.
A school employee in Baguio City who underwent swab test on July 24 was found positive for Covid-19, authorities reported last week.
The patient has already recovered when results of the gene sequencing was released by the Philippine Genome Center.
The workplace was placed on lockdown last month after more than 20 of the more than 100 employees have been infected. 
The first Delta variant case in the region was recorded in Apayao.
The city’s Public Information Office reported the moment the city government received the Delta case report last August 15, the patient’s data were recalled and processed using the link analysis tool that yielded around 130 contacts, 86 of whom are being considered as probably infected with the Delta variant.
The 86 has been interviewed for back tracing.
Some of the contacts had activities in Benguet and other areas. The local government units have been notified for contact tracing and containment measures.
A returning overseas Filipino worker who traveled to Baguio using a sweeper bus has been added as new Delta variant case in the Philippines but has not been counted as a local case. 
Magalong said the city’s contact tracing team has reached the 16 passengers in the bus where the OFW rode and will be monitored if they exhibit any symptoms. 
DOH-Cordillera Asst. Director Amelita Pangilinan said the protocol in the tracing of contacts of people infected with the Delta variant is the same with the current one already being implemented – prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate. 
Pangilinan said the current strategy is to trace the first to third generation of contacts. In some cases, especially when there is clustering of cases, tracing can be as extensive up to the fifth generation of contacts. 
Compared to the other Covid-19 variants, Delta has a combination of several mutations of the virus, which makes it at least two times more transmissible compared to the original virus. 
The World Health Organization reported an individual infected with the Delta variant has more viral load that they are able to easily transmit to others.
Compared to the Alpha variant, which can infect an average of four or five people, the Delta variant is said to infect an average of eight people. 
As of Aug. 17, total cases in the Cordillera have reached 46,538 with 43,731 recoveries and 860 deaths.
In the bio-surveillance report of the DOH-Cordillera, there are 303 cases of variants of concern detected out of the 1,833 specimens sent to the PGC as of Aug. 11. 
These are 229 Alpha, 73 Beta, and one Delta, and three cases of variant of interest Theta (Philippine variant) have also been detected.
To avoid getting infected, Pangilinan said observing minimum health standards should now be a way of life and for an added layer of protection, get vaccinated. 
As of Aug .11, there are 256,496 fully vaccinated individuals out of the 1,181,754 targeted vaccinees in the region. – Rimaliza A. Opiña