Sri Lanka taking all measures to curb spread of Delta variant: Official
Health authorities in Sri Lanka have said they have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 and urged people to cooperate with them, warning that any negligent act can wreak major havoc.
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Health authorities in Sri Lanka have said they have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 and urged people to cooperate with them, warning that any negligent act can wreak major havoc. Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said on Wednesday that they had received adequate data on the spread of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, Daily Mirror reported.
"We are currently carrying out tests and surveillance to ascertain whether the variant has spread from areas like Dematagoda where it was originally detected to other areas of the country," he said, adding health authorities have taken all precautionary measures to prevent a further spread of the Delta strain.
"A negligent act by one individual could jeopardise others around him or her resulting in major havoc in the country at large," Herath underlined. He stressed that there is no guarantee that the new variant could not spread in the country unless we strictly follow health practices. "We as health authorities do need the cooperation from people to face this critical situation; otherwise the whole country would be at stake," he added. On June 17, Sri Lanka detected the highly transmissible Delta strain of SARS-Cov-2 in five samples collected from Dematagoda, Colombo.
Health authorities are focused on three COVID-19 patients suspected to have contracted the Delta or B.1.617.2 variant of COVID-19 in addition to five patients identified in Dematagoda on June 17, officials said.
Sri Lanka's coronavirus death toll crossed the 3000-mark after 45 new fatalities were reported on Tuesday.
The country's cumulative infected numbers have risen to over 257,000.
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