The cases of COVID-19 variants of concerns (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) in Western Visayas are now at 482.
Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas data showed that majority or 395 of the VOCs/VOIs cases are local cases, 41 are repatriated overseas Filipinos (ROFs), 26 are tagged to other regions, and 20 are to be verified.
When broken down per variant, there are now 176 cases of highly contagious Delta variant detected in the region, of which 155 are local cases, six are ROFs, 10 are tagged to other regions, and five are to be verified.
For Alpha variant, a total of ,112 cases were recorded, of which 86 are local cases, 17 – ROFs, 3 – tagged to other regions, and 6 – for verification.
For Beta variants, the total cases now in the region have reached 111, composed of 76 local cases, 15 ROFs, 13 from other regions, and seven for verification.
As to Theta (P3) variant, 81 cases have been reported in the region (77 ROFs, 2 local cases and 2 for verification.
Meanwhile, there is only one Gama variant case in Western Visayas, an ROF, and also one local case of Lambda variant.
The Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants are classified as VOCs 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 no MU, the newest variant, detected in the region.
Mu was first detected in Colombia in January and classified by WHO as a VOI.
Iloilo province has the most number of cases of COVID-19 variants as of Sept. 19 with 143 followed by Antique with 72, Bacolod City – 64, Iloilo City – 61, Negros Occidental – 56, Aklan – 35, Guimaras – 27, and Capiz – 24. (Glenda Tayona)/WDJ