Trinidad has confirmed the presence of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus in a traveller from Guyana.
It is the strongest evidence yet of the highly contagious variant here as Guyana’s Ministry of Health has delivered no results to the public on the presence of Delta.
The Trinidad Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that two additional cases of the COVID-19 Delta Variant of Concern were confirmed, taking the number up to five.
The ministry said that the fourth and fifth patients recently returned to Trinidad from the United States and Guyana respectively. As per existing quarantine protocols, both persons provided negative PCR tests (which were taken 72-hours prior to arrival).
“As a result of their positive COVID-19 results from swabs taken after arrival, both patients were isolated at a State step-down facility. The patients will remain in isolation until they meet the enhanced discharge criteria for persons with COVID-19 Variants of Concern”, the Trinidad Health Ministry said.
The presence of the Delta Variants were confirmed via gene sequencing at the laboratory of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, the ministry said.
It pointed out that research has suggested that the Delta Variant is more easily spread from person to person, as compared to previous variants (estimated to be 2 to 4 times more transmissible than the original Wuhan lineage of the virus).
Furthermore, the ministry said that evidence indicates that individuals who have contracted this variant may be prone to an increased risk of severe illness and hospitalization. This variant may also lead to a rise in cases of COVID-19 in younger age groups and in those who have been previously infected.