Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he is worried that the highly contagious Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus is already spreading undetected in the National Capital Region.
Moreno said he is worried about the slow genome sequencing to detect the Delta variant in the country which could delay local governments (LGUs) to confirm the presence of the virus in their respective areas.
“Ngayon mga kababayan, ako po bilang mayor ninyo, nagbabababala. Masama ang pakiramdam ko, sana mali ako. Ako duda ko, nagkalat na ang Delta, may duda ako,” Moreno said in a live online briefing.
“Unang-una, bago lumabas ang Delta result, it will take them three weeks — para alam ninyo mga kababayan […] importanteng alam ninyo ang totoo, totoong sitwasyon. So ako, ang assessment ko, sasabog sa mukha nating lahat ‘yong Delta variant, masama ang pakiramdam ko. Sa buong bansa ha? Kasi may duda ako sa tagal ng resulta, nagkalat na ‘yan, huli na no’ng nalaman ng tao,” he added.
It usually takes three weeks to one month for the Philippine Genome Center at the University of the Philippines to revert the results of the tests. Because of this long wait, the infected person can possibly transfer the virus to other people even before knowing the variant of the virus.
Moreno said he is worried that the surge brought by the Delta variant will be blamed on local officials again.
“Alam niyo naman sa Maynila nagkaroon ng Delta, nalaman namin isang buwan na ang nakakaraan, three weeks na ang nakakaraan. Let’s see the clear picture of the objective, may masama akong pakiramdam na kakalat ang Delta, dahil sa kapabayaan ng iilan, ituturo lang naman ‘yan dito sa lokal eh,” the local chief executive said.
“Ang taga-gawa po ng trabaho ng iilang opisina ay puro lokal po ‘yan, but you know, I do believe that confronting this virus and cornering the virus, we have to, you know, to work hand-in-hand with other agencies of government,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) has already announced last Sunday an additional 55 more Delta variant cases. The country currently has 119 patients with the said contagious variant. Ronald Espartinez