The Lambda Covid-19 variant is not yet proven to be more severe than the Delta variant, an expert said.
Dr. Cynthia Saloma, executive director of the Philippine Genome Center, said there were only a few studies about the new Covid-19 variant and further data was needed to conclude that it was more deadly than the Delta variant.
“We don’t have sufficient data, as well as sufficient evidence that this [Lambda variant] is getting any more severe from the Delta variant. And at the same time, hindi rin po natin alam kung ang kaniyang transmissibility ay mas mataas pa sa Delta variant kasi kaunti lang po talaga ang datos dito,” Saloma said in the Laging Handa government briefing on Wednesday.
(We don’t have sufficient data, as well as sufficient evidence if this [Lambda variant] is getting any more severe from the Delta variant. And at the same time, we also do not know if its level of transmissibility is higher than the Delta variant because there is little data about this)
Saloma added that the Lambda variant did not emerge from the Delta variant and that the two variants originated from different lineages.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Lambda variant as “variant of interest” due to the increasing number of cases in South America.
Thirty countries had reported cases of the Lambda variant in the past four weeks, mostly in South America, like Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Ecuador. Ariel Jack Tejado II