DILI, 17 july 2021 (TATOLI) – Archdiocese of Dili called on the Government, particularly the relevant authorities to tightly control the border, by strengthening border patrol amidst the spike COVID-19 Delta Variant in the neighboring country, West-Timor, Indonesia.
Archbishop of Dili, Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva said the land border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia must be strictly controlled to prevent the Delta Variant from entering Timor-Leste.
“Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, Catholic Church has always shown its commitment to collaborate with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the battle against COVID-19, to save the lives of Timorese people,” Archbishop Silva told TATOLI in Dili, on friday.
Silva said several variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been identified around the world, including the United Kingdom (Alpha) variant, South Africa (Beta) variant, Brazil (Gamma) variant, India (Delta) variant, etc.
“Among these variants, Indonesia has reported the highest number of Delta cases, which is really concerning us in Timor-Leste. I call on all citizens to remain vigilant with the COVID-19 Delta variant,” said saliva.
This week, the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the COVID-19 Immunization had altered the National Immunization Strategy to shift the focus of vaccination from Dili to the municipalities to boost the immune system of local communities in the western municipalities to resist the Delta variant.
As of friday, there has been a total of 10.049 lab-confirmed cases of the virus in Timor-Leste, with 9.213 recoveries, active cases were 810 and 26 deaths, according to MoH’s official data.
In Timor-Leste, of the 754.864 eligible groups, 245.791 (32.6%) had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of the number, around 49.277 (6.53%) have also received their second dose of the vaccine.
Journalist : Filomeno Martins
Editor : Rafy Belo
