By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas yesterday clarified that there is still no Delta variant of COVID-19 in Bacolod City.

The DOH-6 made the clarification after confusion arose when one of the Delta variant cases in the region was tagged to Sitio Bacolod in a town in Iloilo province.

DOH-6 spokesperson Dr. Daphynie Teorima said their records were mixed up and they immediately released an erratum.

Teorima explained that Region 6 only had four cases of the Delta variant – two in Iloilo province, one in Iloilo City and one in Antique.

Bacolod City Health Office officer-in-charge, Dr. Edwin Miraflor, meanwhile, also affirmed there is still no Delta variant in the city.

However, Miraflor confirmed that other variants such as the Alpha, Beta, and Theta were detected in Bacolod City.

The Alpha or UK variant was first detected in the county of Kent in the United Kingdom, while the Beta variant was first detected in South Africa.

Theta or previously known as the P.3 variant, meanwhile, was first detected in the Philippines earlier this year, and it is also identified as a sub-lineage of the P.1 or Gamma variant which was detected in Brazil./DGB, WDJ