OCTA: Delta variant ‘game changer’ in pandemic situation

FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (red) infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), also known as novel coronavirus, isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/Handout via REUTERS.

MANILA, Philippines — The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, can be a “game changer” in the country’s fight against COVID-19 as it could cripple the country’s health care system because of its more infectious nature.

Ranjit Rye of Octa warned that the more infectious variant could lead to a surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, so Filipinos should not be complacent and must follow minimum public health protocols.

“Yung nga gusto nga namin i-emphasize yung Delta [variant] po game changer siya eh, ‘pag pumasok po siya, sakaling pumasok siya dudurugin niya ho talaga ang ating healthcare system po dahil, biglaang tataas ang number of new cases kasi napaka infectious niya,” Rye said in a public briefing on Thursday.

(We want to emphasize that the Delta variant is a game changer. If it enters the country, it will crumble our healthcare system due to the sudden rise of new cases and since the variant is very infectious as well.)

“Kaya nga kailangan unang una messaging natin kailangan mag-ingat po tayo, hindi po panahon na mag kumpiyansa, hindi ho panahon para magpabaya,” he added.

(That’s why our first message is that we need to take precautions, now is not the time to be complacent and to be neglectful.)

As of June 21, Monday, the country has reported a total of 17 cases of the delta variant but all of them were detected at the country’s borders.

So far, there is no local transmission yet of the variant in the country.

Rye advised the public to get vaccinated and at the same time to follow minimum public health protocols to fight against this new and infectious variant.

“Lahat ng variant dyan i-isa lang laban dyan eh, o dalawa actually. Unang-una yung pagbabakuna at number two yung pagsunod sa minimum public health standards, Rye said.

(All the variants we are fighting them with just one approach, or two actually. First and foremost is to get vaccinated and number two is to follow minimum public health standards.)

How infectious is the new delta variant?

Rye also explained that compared with the other variants such as the Alpha variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, the Delta variant is more contagious since one individual can spread the virus from six to eight other people.

“Just to give you a sense ‘no ‘yung ating UK variant kung mahawaan ang isang professor ay hanggang apat, lima ang nahahawaan, yung ating bagong Delta variant ‘no ay hanggang six to eight ho ang pwede mahawaan ng isang infected individual, napakalaki po at napaka contagious niya po,” he said.

(Just to give you a sense of the UK variant, if one professor is infected then the virus can spread from four to five people. While the new delta variant can spread from six to eight other people, which only shows that it is a bigger number and it’s very contagious.)

Delta plus variant

In terms of the vaccine efficacy, the research group also said that some of the vaccines may not be “very effective” against the new variant called Delta plus.

“All we know is that some of the vaccines may not be very effective against these new variants so yung sa delta plus in particular. Wala pa yan sa bansa natin, hindi pa yan kumakalat, ang goal natin ngayon ma prevent yan [It’s not yet here in the country and it’s not spreading so our goal is to prevent that from happening],” he said.

Delta Plus is a mutation of the Delta variant which was tagged as the “new coronavirus variant of concern” by the government of India. Sofia Vertucio, INQUIRER.net trainee

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