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A total of new 116 Delta COVID-19 cases were reported by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) on Thursday bringing the total to 331.

In a statement, the Department of Health (DOH) said 95 are local cases, one is a returning overseas filipino (ROF), and 20 cases are being verified if these are local or ROF cases.

Of the 95 local cases, 83 cases had addresses in Metro Manila, while three had addresseses in Calabarzon, four in Central Visayas, two in Davao Region, and one each in Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan Valley, and Ilocos Region.

DOH said all cases have been tagged as recovered while other information is being validated by regional and local health offices.

DOH said among the total 216 Delta variant cases reported last July 29, one case was tested in two different laboratories.

"Both samples were sent to UP-PGC, sequenced after an anonymized selection, and detected with the Delta variant. With this, the DOH is amending the previous total Delta variant cases from 216 to 215," it said.

"This brings the total Delta variant cases to 331," it added.

DOH also said that while community transmission of the Delta variant is being studied, the national government and local government units should act aggressively as if there is community transmission.

Also, 113 Alpha variant cases, 122 Beta variant cases, and 10 P.3 variant cases were detected in the latest batch of whole genome sequencing.

As of now, the country has recorded a total of 1,968 Alpha variants and 2,268 Beta variants. Ella Dionisio/DMS