RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We have detected two cases of the Delta strain in Venezuela, both of them coming from abroad,” he said in a statement aired by state-owned VTV channel.
The president pointed out that the two cases are in isolation and are being treated. One of them is a young athlete from the central state of Miranda who traveled from Turkey.
“He had proven contact with 30 people. Tests were performed and fortunately they were negative, it was not transmitted. This young man is receiving his prompt, complete treatment and is in isolation in order to continue the fight to prevent the Delta strain from spreading in Venezuela,” Maduro explained.
The other case is a 56-year-old health worker who also came from abroad and lives in Caracas, “has not infected anyone so far. She is isolated and undergoing treatment.”
“I must tell all Venezuelans that we are facing a new threat with the Delta and Delta Plus strain; it is a very dangerous, very infectious strain,” he said.
To fight the virus, Venezuela is implementing a system called “7+7”, which consists of 7 days of commercial activity shutdown, followed by a week of flexibility.
Although last week Maduro said that he was considering the possibility of suspending this system, on Sunday he stated that “the 7+7 must be maintained,” but that “some flexibilities will be considered in the 7 days of quarantine” to enhance commercial activity and transportation between cities.
Maduro also pointed out that 3,612,473 Venezuelans have been vaccinated to date in the Caribbean nation and that a new vaccination center was inaugurated at the Universidad Experimental de la Seguridad (UNES) in Caracas.
He assured that there are 310 vaccination centers in Venezuela and that 125 more will be opened soon.
“We have made progress with the Chinese vaccine, the Russian vaccine, Cuba’s Abdala vaccine is undergoing a massive test phase and we are waiting for the Covax vaccines,” he said.