A day after health officials announced the first death due to Influenza A (H1N1), the Department of Health declared a “low-level” community outbreak of the virus in Manila.

A low-level community outbreak represents a third generation transmission of the virus which means there are now individuals who become affected by the virus although they had no history of travel to affected countries nor have they come in contact with persons who were confirmed for A (H1N1), Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.

Duque said a sustained community outbreak is the next possible scenario if the virus transmission cannot be broken. “In the sustained transmission stage, there are already clustering of A (H1N1) cases in separate areas in the country,” he said.

"We already have third generation transmission in Manila or low-level community outbreak. We don't have clusters of affected patients," the health chief said, adding that the virus transmission can be seen clearly among schools that confirmed cases of A (H1N1).

The DoH chief said there are now 22 schools with students that have confirmed H1N1 virus. The latest are St. Paul's Makati, St. Mary's Caloocan and Holy Spirit School in Cubao, Quezon City.

But Duque allayed public concerns saying that the magnitude of the disease is small if the total number of population is taken into consideration.

"Numbers wise, it is maybe alarming. But what is alarming when you're given 22 schools that are affected and if you are looking at the total number of schools, you have 40,000 to 60,000 schools? Twenty two schools present a miniscule number," Duque stressed.

"The total number of persons affected is also very small compared to the total number of population," he added.

Duque said the first A (H1N1) casualty, a woman who worked for the House of Representatives, was laid to rest Tuesday afternoon.

The health chief reiterated that the body of a patient who died from A (H1N1) does not pose a threat as the virus is transmitted via droplets of an infected person usually through coughing or sneezing.

Similarly, Duque said there is no need to screen all workers of the Lower House, saying that the DoH has done contact tracing since Sunday night.

"That's not recommended because you are assuming now that one patient had contact with majority of the people working there. The DoH has guidelines in the workplace. I hope the Lower House of Congress would look into these guidelines and follow. Otherwise, there might be unnecessary efforts for them to do," he added.

The global tally of Influenza A (H1N1) is 52,160 cases with 231 deaths from 94 reporting countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).