Presence of delta variant of covid-19 confirmed in El Salvador

Covid-19: efficacy of vaccines against the delta variant 4:05

(CNN Spanish) -

The Ministry of Health of El Salvador confirmed this Saturday the circulation of the delta variant of covid-19 in the Central American country.

"This variant that is confirmed in the country has particular characteristics that generate greater complications due to lethalities. That is why the call is for vaccination and not to lower our guard," said Francisco Alabí, Minister of Health, in a press conference.

President Nayib Bukele assured that the first case was detected in a person who did not prevent from abroad, so the authorities suspect that the variant could have been present in the country for several days and that the cases could be many more.

“The first confirmed case does not come from abroad, so it is evident that the delta variant must have several days of community circulation in our country.

It could already be hundreds of cases, ”the president wrote in a tweet.

The announcement comes at a time when El Salvador registers an increase in positive cases and deaths from causes related to the coronavirus compared to recent months.

• People who are vaccinated and infected have the same viral load of the delta variant as unvaccinated people, according to an unpublished study

This Friday, the authorities reported the death of 16 people from causes associated with covid-19, when at the beginning of June the daily average of deaths was between four and five people.

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By Thursday, according to official figures, there were 285 new cases of covid-19, when at the beginning of June the daily average oscillated between 125 and 150 cases.

Minister Alabí asked the population not to relax biosecurity measures and to get vaccinated as soon as possible, since the delta variant increases the ease of transmission of the virus.

The government announced Thursday that those over the age of 12 would also be vaccinated against covid-19.

• See on this map which countries have already approved a third dose of the covid-19 vaccine

El Salvador reports a total of 86,620 confirmed cases of covid-19 and 2,629 people died from causes related to the coronavirus.

According to health authorities, to date 1,487,461 people have completed their vaccination schedule with two doses and 2,821,728 have one dose.

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coronavirus Covid-19 Delta variant