(Eagle News) — The Manila government has identified 36 contacts of the Delta variant cases earlier reported in the city.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Department of Health has suggested granular lockdowns in Manila as a result.
“But every day we will be assessing if we need to escalate the restrictions,” she said.
She said the DOH would also meet with experts on Monday to discuss possible restrictions in the NCR Plus area.
The NCR Plus bubble covers Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
Earlier, the OCTA research group recommended the re-imposition of such restrictions and of the ban on children going outdoors.
In making the recommendation, the group composed mostly of researchers from the University of the Philippines noted the Philippines’ first 11 local Delta variant cases.
The 11 were among 16 Delta variant cases found in the DOH’s latest genome sequencing.
Of the 16, the other five were returning overseas Filipinos.
The DOH earlier warned of a possible surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, noting it could be 60 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
The World Health Organization has said the variant was on track to becoming the globally dominant COVID-19 variant.
Some reports have said the Delta variant was already the dominant variant in the United States.
