COVID-19 cases in the country continue to drop, with the Department of Health (DOH) reporting the lowest number of single-day cases in nearly eight months on November 2.
As of November 10, the Philippines recorded a nationwide total of 2,809,311 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 29,138 active cases and 44,665 deaths in total.
But the first local case of B.1.617.1, known as the former COVID-19 Kappa variant was recorded in the Philippines on November 8, according to DOH.
On B.1.617.1 or Kappa Variant
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stated in a press briefing that B.1.617.1 variant was seen in a 32-year-old man from Floridablanca, Pampanga who experienced mild symptoms and was also marked as “recovered.”
The patient’s sample was collected on June 2, 2021 when the Kappa variant was still estimated to be a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is currently under monitoring by the organization.
Vergeire assured that they will continue their investigation to obtain more information on the case in accordance with strict monitoring on both the variant and the community.
The COVID-19 Kappa variant is derived from a similar lineage to the Delta variant that was first identified in India in October 2020.
On Delta variant
A total of 3,222 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variants are reported in the Philippines as of today, remaining to be the most common variant detected in the country.
Vergeire said in a briefing that the DOH is currently conducting a retrospective sampling to trace the origins of the said variant in the country with the 748 samples that were collected from March to October this year.
Delta Variant was first detected in the Philippines in July 2020.
On Alpha and Beta variants
The DOH also reported 3,184 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 Beta and 2,732 cases reported positive of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant in the country as of November 8.
“All regions and all National Capital Region (NCR) cities/municipalities either have Alpha or Beta variants detected. The Delta variant, initially detected from returning overseas Filipinos is now detected in all 17 regions and all NCR city, municipality as well,” Vergeire said.
In September 2020, both Beta and Alpha variants were first detected in South Africa and United Kingdom respectively.
On other COVID-19 variants
DOH detected the first case of Lambda variant in the country on a 35-year-old female.
Lambda variant was first identified in Peru in August 2020 and is classified as a “variant of interest” by the WHO on June 14, 2021.
UP-PGC reported that Theta or P.3 variant was detected in the country in March 2021.
The variant was found from local samples in Central Visayas, collected on the same dates where there was a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases recorded in the region.
From “variant of interest”, Theta variant was reclassified for further monitoring by the WHO as reported global cases of the said variant have decreased with only a total of 269 cases reported in 14 countries.
