Sharjah 24 – Reuters: The Philippines has detected its first locally acquired cases of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the health ministry said on Friday.

Of the 16 new COVID-19 cases with the Delta variant, 11 were tagged as locally acquired cases, health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news conference.

The variant, first detected in India, has been blamed as the key factor for a surge in cases in neigbouring countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.