An infectious disease expert said on Tuesday, June 22, the more transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first identified in India can spread through "fleeting" contact.
In an interview with ANC, Dr. Edsel Salvana said the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is four times more infectious than the original virus from Wuhan and two times more infectious than the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant first reported in the United Kingdom.
He also noted that the variant "makes people sicker" and "younger people are getting sicker."
"What's being reported out by the Health Department of Australia is that it only takes fleeting contact with people who are infected for other people to get infected and that's not how COVID works that's why we say 15 minutes of close contact is when you will likely get COVID," Salvana said.
"This is fleeting contact and what that means is that you really have to protect yourself at all times, otherwise, this is going to get out of hand," he added.
The expert also urged the government to maintain strict border controls to dampen the threats of the Delta variant.
"We already have 17 cases of Delta all in returning overseas Filipinos. Our quarantine protocols did protect us so it doesn't seem to have made itself into the community yet and we want to achieve it that way," Salvana added.
READ MORE: Health expert: No community transmission of Delta variant in PH yet
On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) detected four more cases of Delta variant, pushing the total to 17 cases.
DOH said patients infected with the Delta variant are more prone to stay longer in hospitals than those who contracted other variants.