Alpha, Delta Covid variants found in Sri Lanka
June 10, 2021 17:41
A Covid patient on oxygen support in Telangana
The highly contagious Alpha and Delta variants of the coronavirus have been detected in Sri Lanka, which is facing a third wave of the pandemic. Patients carrying the Delta variant, or the B1.617.2 variant first identified in India, and the Alpha strain, formerly called the B.1.1.7 strain, which was first detected in the UK, have been found at around nine locations of different districts in Sri Lanka, said Dr Chandima Jeewandara, the Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
According to the sequencing report issued on Wednesday, 80 people were infected with the Alpha variant in multiple locations while the Delta variant was found in one person from a quarantine facility.
The Alpha variant cases were also reported in healthcare workers who were fully vaccinated. Sri Lanka has witnessed an increase of positive cases and deaths since April, partly caused by celebrations and shopping during last month's traditional new year festival.
Sri Lanka has registered more than 210,000 cases and 1,843 confirmed deaths. In view of the pressure on the health sector with the raging third wave, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has issued instructions to reinstate retired health workers on contract basis to battle the pandemic.
Sri Lanka continues with its vaccination programme with the arrival of another million doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine out of a total 13 million which the country had ordered this year. The first batch of one million doses of Sinopharm arrived early this month.
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