The transmission of Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was detected in the country on May 11, is controlled, an infectious disease expert said Friday.
“Naiwasan naman natin yung pag-spread sa community for now, although closely mino-monitor ito talaga dahil nakakatakot po talaga ang pinapakita nitong Delta variant sa iba’t ibang bansa (We have prevented the community spread for now, although we monitor it closely because the Delta variant’s behavior in other countries is alarming), said Dr. Edsel Salvana, Department of Health (DOH) Technical Advisory Group member and infectious disease expert, during a televised public briefing.
So far, the country has recorded 13 cases of the Delta variant — all from returning Filipino travelers.
Salvana noted the immediate implementation of quarantine protocols for individuals entering the country helped in the containment of the virus.
“Yung sa ship naman, yung sa MV Athens Bridge na-quarantine naman sila pagdating dito at diretso sa ospital at tinest namin bago naming ni-release na negative na po talaga yung kanilang RT-PCR (As for the ship, the MV Athens Bridge, they were quarantined and sent directly to the hospital and they tested negative in their RT-PCR before we released them),” he said.
Earlier, the DOH warned the public to be more cautious against the Delta variant since it spreads quickly as seen in the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Indonesia.
“New cases in the United Kingdom, 90 percent are Delta variant. Nakikita din sa China ngayon, nagkaroon sila ng outbreak nitong Delta variant (In China, it is also seen now that they have a delta outbreak),” Salvana said.
Since the virus is sometimes transmitted up to the third generation, Salvana observed that contact tracing is more difficult, and individuals suffer from more severe symptoms.
“Sa aking experience dito sa apat na inalagaan ko, they had more chance to have severe disease. Ang tataas po ng markers ng pamamaga, inflammation sa katawan nila at yung isa nga po tuluyang namatay (In my experience with the four patients I monitored, they had more chance to have severe disease. They have markers of inflammation in their bodies and one of them died),” he said.
In connection to this, Salvana urged the public to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
He also urged those who received their first dose of Covid-19 jab to get their second dose for full protection especially against the Delta variant.
“Ang isang nakakabahala doon sa mga partially vaccinated, mukang less po yung effectiveness, bagama’t protective pa naman kung nakadalawang doses na (What’s alarming for the partially vaccinated is, one dose is less effective, but two doses are still proven protective against this variant),” he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency
