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 Genomic sequencing by Australia's Doherty Institute in the first
week of August found that of 27 samples taken in the country's
Ermera region from people infected with the coronavirus, 12 were of
the Delta variant.
Ermera has the highest number of active cases and lowest vaccination
rate in East Timor, which borders Indonesia, where the Delta variant
has been fuelling one of Asia's worst coronavirus epidemics.
The health ministry in its Aug. 8 report said Delta variant
transmission "is likely to cause a significant increase in case
numbers, including severe cases and deaths," with those with limited
vaccine access most at risk.
Home to 1.3 million people, the Southeast Asian nation has recorded
just 11,579 cases and 28 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
About 8.5% of its 1.3 million people have been fully inoculated so
far, using the vaccines of AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
Samples from other regions have yet to be tested but public health
experts said growing case numbers elsewhere in the country could
indicate that Delta was also present there.
Danina Coelho, the government's
spokesperson on COVID-19 vaccines, said the
Ermera cluster showed how critical it was to
boost vaccine coverage.
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 "The government is very concerned about those
cases specifically as the rate of vaccination is
very low," she said,
"That's why the government is reinforcing the
vaccine campaign."
Joshua Francis, a paediatric infectious diseases
specialist who leads projects in East Timor for
the Menzies medical research institute, said the
country had done well with its vaccine rollout,
but reaching more people was the priority.
"There is an urgent to need to focus on
municipalities with lower vaccination rates," he
said.
(Editing by Martin Petty)
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