The Ministry Of Health Says The Delta Variant Is 6 Times Faster, It Only Takes 10-15 Seconds

Illustration-virus covid-19 (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Spokesman for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the Delta variant is six times faster than the Alfa variant.

"The increase in our cases is very significant compared to December 2020 and January 2021. The reason is high mobility during Ramadan and Eid holidays and lax health protocols", he said during the Guest Room webinar agenda which was held virtually by Holopis in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, June 29.

According to Siti Nadia, the Delta variant accelerates the rate of transmission, but there is no strong evidence that the B1617.2 variant from India has the ability to reduce vaccine efficacy.

For this reason, the government continues to strive to accelerate vaccination to reduce the rate of transmission. "Because in some areas we also find this variant", she said.

The community's diminishing adherence to health protocols, said Siti Nadia, has the potential to facilitate new variants to spread in the community.

"This delta has a transmission rate of six times that of the Alfa variant. Our daily case findings are currently reaching more than 15 thousand people recently", she said.

Siti Nadia added that a journal in Australia reported the speed of transmission of the Delta variant when calculated based on a time ranging from 10 to 15 seconds.

"So people who pass by without wearing a mask can already make that person positive or infected", he said.

While the old variant takes 10 to 20 minutes to be able to make a person exposed. "This delta can be 10 times the transmission speed of the old variant (Wuhan)", she said.