East Timor has recorded its first case of community transmission of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, raising concerns by its health ministry about a possible spike, reports Reuters.

Genomic sequencing by Australia’s Doherty Institute in the first week of August found that of 27 samples taken in the country’s Ermera region from people infected with the coronavirus, 12 were of the Delta variant.

Ermera has the highest number of active cases and lowest vaccination rate in East Timor, which borders Indonesia, where the Delta variant has been fuelling one of Asia’s worst coronavirus epidemics.

The health ministry in its August 8 report said Delta variant transmission “is likely to cause a significant increase in case numbers, including severe cases and deaths”, with those with limited vaccine access most at risk.