Still scrambling to contain the the spread of COVID-19, Bohol on Sunday recorded its first two cases of the dreaded Delta variant, a more virulent mutation of the virus that causes the respiratory disease.

Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) spokesperson Dr. Yul Lopez announced on Monday that the more contagious variant was detected in two residents of Tagbilaran City and Candijay town as confirmed by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).

Both have recovered from the disease. Their swab samples were submitted to the PGC in mid-July but the results were issued on Sunday.

“Sa among pagsusi kaning duha nakalabang na sa ilang 14-day quarantine ug na-clear na sa doctor nigawas na sila sa ilang isolation and rendered non-contagious,” said Lopez.

On Sunday night, Tagbilaran City Mayor Baba Yap announced that five cases of the Delta variant were detected in the city but later corrected this.

According to Tagbilaran City Health Office (CHO) chief Dr. Jeia Pondoc, only one Delta variant case was detected while the four others were identified as Philippine variant, otherwise known as the Theta, variant.

The Theta variant was already removed by the World Health Organization from its list of variants of concern and was reclassified as “alerts for further monitoring.”

“Kadtong na-report gabii, naay sayop ang RESU ang Delta variant sa Tagbilaran, instead of five, isa ra kay ang upat is Philippine variant,” said Pondoc.

According to Pondoc, the Tagbilaran City resident who contracted the Delta variant only exhibited minor symptoms.

The person is from Barangay Ubajan but works outside of the city. He was tested after he was identified as a first-generation contact of a COVID-19-stricken individual.

“Dugay nani siya ni-recover, wala pud ni siyay kaayo symptoms, unya na-isolate og tarong,” said Pondoc.

His family tested negative for the disease.

“Actually siya ray nagpuyo sa ilaha so wala siyay lain kuyog,” she added.

For her part, Candijay Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Jeryl Fuentes said that the Candijay resident who contracted the Delta variant is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW).

The OFW tested positive on July 23, 2021 while under quarantine after arriving at the Clark International Airport in Pamgpanga on July 17, 2021.

The COVID-19-infected person who was asymptomatic underwent an 18-day quarantine before given clearance by the Bureau of Quarantine.

Deemed fully recovered, the person was allowed to travel to Bohol on August 3, 2021. (R. Tutas)