‘Delta’ Variant

‘Indian Covid variant now in the country’

THE DELTA Covid variant, also known as the Indian variant, has now reached the Philippines with health officials saying over a dozen cases have been recorded, mostly from returning overseas Filipino workers.

A man wears a face mask as Philippine health officials express alarm over the Delta variant or the Indian Covid-19 variant after 17 cases have recorded in the country. (Zamboanga Post)

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the Delta variant has now spread to more than 80 countries and continues to mutate. Some reports have found that the Delta variant also causes more severe symptoms, but more research is needed to confirm those conclusions, according to WHO.

Molecular epidemiologist Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana said the Delta variant is more contagious than other Covid-19 variants. In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on June 21, Salvana said: “The Delta variant is really very scary and this is all the more reason why we really should police our borders po kasi it only takes one variant to get in and then puwedeng mag-India-like surge po tayo kasi mataas po talaga ‘yong number of people na kayang i-infect ng isang taong mayroong Delta variant.”

“Kung ‘yong dating virus po natin ay ‘yong original virus dalawa lang po iyong nai-infect, itong Delta variant up to eight po. So it’s up to four times more contagious than the original virus from Wuhan (China) po. So this will really be a big disaster if we do not keep it out of the country po.”

With the presence of the Delta virus, Salvana said there are now four “variants of concerns” in the country - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta - and told Duterte that stringent protocols must continue.

“Wala pa po tayong community transmission ng Gamma at Delta and we really want to keep it that way, and that is why very important po ‘yong stringent protocols natin. Iyong Delta po, as I have mentioned, is 60 percent increased transmission over Alpha or ‘yong UK variant, which has already 60 percent increased transmission over the original virus from Wuhan. So mabagsik po talaga ito. If we thought Alpha was mabagsik, ‘yong UK variant, mas mabagsik po itong Indian variant, ‘yong Delta. And, of course, there’s also the finding that ‘yong mga partially vaccinated ‘yong one dose pa lang, nahahawa pa rin po sila kasi mukhang itong Delta really needs two doses para ma-protektahan po nang maayos. Iyong one dose po is not very good at protecting against Delta,” he said.

The DOH also confirmed Salvana’s report and said the Philippines has all those Covid-19 variants - the Alpha variant or the United Kingdom variant; the Beta variant, also known as the South African variant; and Theta variant or the Philippine variant.

The Department of Health (DOH), the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health have confirmed the presence of the Delta variant.

The DOH said three Filipino crew of the MV Eastern Hope now docked in South Korea were all sent home on June 3 after testing positive for the Delta variant. Two of them completed the 10-day isolation after arrival in the Philippines and were eventually discharged after recovering from the disease. The third Filipino remains in the hospital.

Another Filipino worker who arrived home from Saudi Arabia on May 24 was also positive for the Delta variant and also recovered on June 10, but he remains under strict home quarantine because of the health protocols imposed by his local government.

The DOH said at least 17 cases of Delta variants had been recorded so far. It did not say or identify the places where those found positive or recovered from the Delta variant.

But the DOH has not reported any Gamma variant or the Brazil variant of the deadly respiratory virus. But it noted a spike in Covid-19 cases in central and southern Philippines.

“The DOH, UP-PGC, and UP-NIH assure the public that bio-surveillance activities for the detection of Covid-19 variants shall continue amidst the increase in cases in Visayas and Mindanao,” the DOH said in a communique.

In Zamboanga City, health officials confirmed the presence of the South African variant which resulted in the surge of Covid cases from 30 to over 2,800 beginning in mid-March. The local government managed to slow down the spread of the virus after Zamboanga City was placed under stricter quarantine control on May 8. Now, the number of active Covid-19 cases is just a little over 500, said Mayor Beng Climaco.

The DOH also released P180 million to the UP-PGC in May for the purchase of reagents for whole genome sequencing for the rest of the year. These reagents will allow the DOH, UP-PGC, and UP-NIH to sequence samples of Covid-19 cases regularly until the end of the year, ensuring that the government will have essential information in mitigating the spread of virus.

According to the Pharmaceutical Technology, the Delta variant continues to spread, prompting fears it will become the most dominant strain globally. There is also concern that while data is being shared, countries with weaker monitoring systems may not have detected the strain’s presence.

It also reported that Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc are highly effective after two doses at preventing hospitalization of those infected with the Delta variant, underscoring the urgency in getting people fully vaccinated. 

The Pfizer and BioNTech SE shot is 96% effective against hospitalization after two doses, while the AstraZeneca and University of Oxford Covid inoculation is 92% effective, according to an analysis announced recently by Public Health England. Those results are comparable with the protection offered against the Alpha variant, which first emerged in Britain, the data show. (Zamboanga Post)

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