By Christine Fabro
The public is advised to not be complacent and to strictly follow the health and safety protocols being implemented, as the Delta COVID-19 variant is more transmissible than any other variants.
In the Malacañang public briefing on Monday (June 21), Dr. Cynthia Saloma from the Philippine Genome Center said that as of June 21, there were 17 Delta variants detected in the country.
Three of four new detected Delta variant cases were returning overseas Filipinos from MV Eastern Hope.
Of the 13 initial cases, four of which were international travellers while nine of them were seafarers from the MV Athens Bridge.
“Itong variant na ito, marami siyang mutation sa spike region ng protein pero iyong pinaka-binabantayan niyang mutation o kumbaga iyong kaniyang hallmark mutation, ito ay iyong E484Q at saka iyong L452R mutations in the spike region,” Saloma said.
According to Saloma, while the Alpha variant is about 60% more transmissible than other variants, the Delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant alone.
She added that the Delta variant can infect up to eight persons, compared to the Alpha variant that only infects four to five individuals.
Saloma said that the Delta variant is rapidly spreading around the world.
“Sinasabi ng World Health Organization (WHO) sa Europe, that it is poised to take hold in the region at nakikita na natin itong Delta variant sa 80 countries around the world according to the WHO,” she said.
Still, Saloma said there is a unique opportunity to prevent the entry of such a variant and the spread in the communities through strong border control, as the detected cases were all international travellers and were immediately contained.
The WHO recently crafted a new nomenclature system using the Greek alphabet to easily remember labels for key variants and variants of concerns of COVID-19.
Saloma said that the Alpha variant was first reported in the UK, Beta variant in South Africa, Gamma variant from Brazil, and the Delta variant from India. – rir
