Delta Detected in all 16 NCR Cities, 1 Municipality, Says DOH

The coronavirus Delta variant has been detected in all 16 cities and one municipality of the National Captial Region, the Department of Health said Friday at the start of the 15-day lockdown of Metro Manila.

The region accounts for 83 of the 116 most recent confirmed cases of the hyper-contagious variant. In total, the Philippines has 331 Delta cases, said DOH Usec. Rosario Vergeire.

So far, there are still 12 active cases, 11 are asymptomatic. Four of them are from Metro Manila, six from Central Luzon, one from CALABARZON, and one from Western Visayas.

For 15 days stay-at-home orders will be enforced in the capital region of some 12 million people. Only those who are running food and medicine errands or are working in essential industries are allowed outside their homes.

The strictest lockdown or ECQ, the first since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, came as the Philippines has so far fully vaccinated 10 million people, compared to the target of at least 50 million by year-end.