Delta variant and Delta Plus subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 are in Ecuador

The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, confirmed this Monday, July 12, 2021 that the Delta variant of the virus that causes covid-19 is in Ecuador. “We have had epidemiological surveillance guidelines established weeks ago to prevent the entry of the virus, unfortunately it has already reached national territory,” he said at a press conference held at ECU-911. 

The Minister of Health confirmed on July 12, 2021 that the Delta variant of the coronavirus was registered in Ecuador.

The minister also pointed out that thanks to the constant monitoring of cases with special characteristics, it has been possible to identify and receive notification of the first cases with the Delta variant in the country. 

“We have not made a statement until we are certain, but internally we have continued working to take control of these cases,” he said. Eight of the cases are in the province of El Oro and two in Guayas, it reported in a brief statement.

According to Garzón, the cases are “completely controlled and in which we have taken measures in recent days due to the suspicion that we already had, given the clinical characteristics.” 

The minister also reported that one of the cases in the province of El Oro corresponds to a subvariant called Delta Plus , which makes the virus more contagious and with a higher mortality rate . 

Faced with the finding, Garzón pointed out that they have transferred 10,000 antigen tests to El Oro for screening and that they are carrying out epidemiological surveillance and contact tracing of the 10 cases and those linked to those contacts. Also, he said, it was decided to increase the vaccination points in both provinces 

The president of the National COE, Juan Zapata, mentioned that after the information received by the Ministry of Health, several resolutions have been taken, however the plenary session has not ended and he will send these resolutions to President Guillermo Lasso in the next few hours. “One of them is to ask the president to take measures focused on El Oro and Guayas for 15 days.”