BAGUIO CITY: The Summer Capital's preparations for the Delta variant shifted into high gear as more cases were determined in the country. Over the weekend, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said while the city had not registered any Delta case, based on the latest report of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC), there was no assurance that it was truly Delta-variant free. 'We cannot rely on the PGC report because this is not real time and therefore, does not reflect the true situation because of the institution's limitations,' he added. The mayor cited the PGC's limited resources. He said new variant cases were being determined a month or even two months after a patient tests positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). By then, many had been exposed to the patients, and considering the new variant's higher contagion rate, a lot may have already been infected even before determination by the PGC. 'It is better to assume that we already have cases. So, our preparations will be on target. We are preparing for a worst-case scenario,' according to the mayor. He said that every week, the city was updating its compliance with contingency plans to ensure that they were on track. The plans included the stockpiling of critical medicines, oxygen tanks and equipment for hospitals and facilities, establishing more isolation beds in preparation for increased hospitalizations, and enhancing border control, lockdown rules, contact tracing, contact testing, isolation, vaccination and other Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate strategies. The Delta variant was said to be more virulent than other variants. Thus, it could cause more severe symptoms and infections. A Delta-positive patient could infect up to six persons while a patient with the original strain could contaminate three persons. A person with the Alpha variant could infect four persons.
