DILI, 04 september 2021 (TATOLI) – The Government of Timor-Leste, through a joint press conference of the Presidency of the Council of Ministries (CoM), the Ministry of Health (MoH), and the World Health Organization (WHO) had reaffirmed its decision that banning all citizens residing in Dili, including fully vaccinated citizens was a critical move for combating the surge of the Delta variant in Timor-Leste.
Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães informed that the new measures on banning the double-jabbed citizens were important to save Timorese people from severe infections and deaths.
“You know previously Prime Minister made it clear that fully vaccinated citizens are free to move within the national territory. However, due to the surge of Delta variant in the country, the Integrated Crisis Management Center (SIJK) demanded the government by re-imposing lockdown with new restrictions on banning the fully vaccinated citizens,” Magalhães said in a press conference at the Ministry of Finance, in Dili, today.
At the same place, Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo informed that the government decision on banning the fully vaccinated citizens from their journeys was due to the local transmission of the Delta variant that had been recently detected in the capital Dili and Ermera municipality.
“Delta variant spreads about two to three times faster than the original version of the virus. It is a highly contagious variant and we need to stop it,” said Belo.
Recently, health authorities reported local transmission of the Delta variant in the country, consisting of 22 cases in Dili, and 15 cases in Ermera.
In addition, speaking at the press conference, the Representative of the WHO, Arvind Mathur called on citizens to obey and practice the Covid-19 guidelines, by washing hands regularly, wearing face masks, and maintaining social and physical distancing.
“Talking about evidence, we need to understand that Timor-Leste has more than 6.000 cases in august itself. We have 74 deaths so far reported, of which 72 cases were unvaccinated. This indicates that we are dealing with the Delta variant that has been found in the samples from Ermera and Dili,” said Mathur.
He said the Delta variant is very transmissible and causes more severe diseases: “The chances of complication are more in people who are not vaccinated and those who have some other chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart problem would be more vulnerable.”
Mathur stressed that vaccination needs to be scaled up and important measures have to be taken to break the transmission of the Delta variant.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
