Minister: We can now be reasonably sure that the Delta variant is currently circulating in Hon. & provinces

Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr Culwick Togamana tonight confirmed that all the 10 samples to Australia have returned result showing the Delta variant is in Honiara and the provinces.

In his daily update on the COVID-19, Togamana said: “More recently, we had also sent 10 more samples to Australia and I now have results. All the 10 samples showed presence of delta variant, so we can now be reasonably sure that the Delta is the variant that is currently circulating in Honiara and in the Provinces.

He said as reported earlier, from the 9 samples sent to Australia for genomic sequencing, data from four samples showed that 3 had omicron variant and one had delta variant.

“All these four cases were managed in quarantine in December 2021. The remaining 5 samples had delta variant which led to the current outbreak in Honiara and other Provinces.More recently, we had also sent 10 more samples to Australia and I now have results. All the 10 samples showed presence of delta variant, so we can now be reasonably sure that the Delta is the variant that is currently circulating in Honiara and in the Provinces,” he reiterated.

The minister says the Delta variant is more virulent (cause severe disease, hospitalization and deaths) as compared to omicron but it is also more susceptible to the vaccines and hence, he strongly encourages people to get vaccinated.