Duque: US study shows vaccinated, unvaccinated persons hit by Delta variant have similar viral load

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday expressed reservations on revising the government’s quarantine policy, citing a recent US study which showed that the viral load of unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals hit by the Delta coronavirus variant are almost the same.

At a House health committee hearing, Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo asked the Department of Health if the government can revise its policy and require RT-PCR tests for inbound passengers in order to shorten the quarantine period of returning Filipinos.

Quimbo’s appeal was backed by Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Estrellita Suansing, saying many Filipinos abroad are hesitant to go back to the Philippines because the government does not require negative RT-PCR test for inbound passengers and also because of the 10-day quarantine period it imposes.

Although Duque said they will revisit these policies, the Health chief pointed out that the data on the nature of the Delta variant is still “evolving.”

“Actually, the Delta variant, the information and the data continue to evolve. Recently, we’ve seen a study in the US where it appears and it is a very serious implication ano, that the viral load of the vaccinated once hit by the Delta variant e halos parehas rin ng (is almost the same with those who are) unvaccinated at sinasabi nila na 1000 times greater ang viral load,” Duque told the lawmakers.

“So given this evolving information, we have to be really cautious but at the same time, we are certainly open as we have always been, to reviewing our policies but it is important that it is anchored on the most credible pieces of information and data,” he added.

Dr. Edsel Salvana of the Department of Health Technical Advisory group also reiterated that testing upon arrival or pre-departure testing without the required quarantine period is not an ideal policy.

“Nakikita natin na may nakalusot na Delta  ngayon [because] there are certain areas that did not follow our strict quarantine, nag-test sila on arrival dun po talaga ‘yun nakakalusot,” Salvana said.

(We saw that the Delta variant has entered our borders because there are certain areas that did not follow our strict quarantine procedure. They tested upon arrival. It is where these cases enter our borders.)

“’Di po talaga ideal ang testing on arrival nang walang quarantine or pre-departure [testing]. (The testing upon arrival or pre-departure testing without quarantine is not ideal.) If we do pre-departure or testing upon arrival, you still have to do the quarantine. Otherwise, there will be false negatives and there will be breakthrough infections,” he added.

In June, Salvana had explained that testing a traveler, who is newly infected with COVID-19, upon his or her arrival in the Philippines will not yield a positive result.

On Wednesday, the Philippines reported 7,342 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the country's total case count to 1,619,824.

The Department of Health said nine out of 17 cities in the National Capital Region have recorded at least one case of Delta variant.—AOL, GMA News