Ilocos Norte confirms Delta variant, sees surge in COVID-19 cases

Ilocos Norte has reported 161 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the total active cases to 3,923.

Seven new Delta variant cases were detected across seven different towns in the province.

Governor Matthew Manotoc confirmed the Delta variant detection and expressed concerns about its spread, calling it "what we've been fearing and anticipating all along."

The province is currently under Alert Level 4 due to high hospital utilization rates.

The governor requested the Inter-Agency Task Force to declare the entire province under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), but Malacañang announced it will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until the end of August.

There were 263 new recoveries recorded, bringing the total recoveries to 7,030 out of 11,109 total cases, with 156 deaths.

Laoag City has the highest number of active cases at 1,054, followed by Batac City with 486.

The number of virus-infected health workers at Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center has reached 164.