MANILA — The Philippines on Friday recorded 16 new cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant, according to media reports.

Out of the total 16, 11 are local cases, making them the first locally transmitted infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that 15 of the newly detected cases had recovered while another died. Of these, 10 are females aged 14 to 79.

The country now has 35 cases of the Delta variant.

"The government has started preparing our health system," Vergeire said.

More hospital beds were being made available for Covid-19 patients and oxygen supplies increased in case of a "surge" in cases, she said.

Philippine authorities have been scrambling to try and stop the variant from spreading in the community after it has triggered an upsurge in infections across the region.

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

The Philippines has recorded around 1.5 million coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic, the second-highest in Southeast Asia. — Agencies