South African variant of Covid-19 detected in Sri Lanka

12 Mar, 2021

The South African variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Sri Lanka.

The detection was announced by Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the Sri Jayewardenepura University, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara.

He said the infected individual was detected while undergoing quarantine at a quarantine centre.

The detected individual is reported to have returned from Tanzania recently.

Dr. Jeewandara further said that the South African variant is highly transmissible.

This is the latest variant of the coronavirus to be detected in Sri Lanka.

In February, the?new variant of Covid-19?belonging to the B.1.1.7 lineage found in the United Kingdom (UK), was detected in parts of Sri Lanka last week.

Dr. Chandima Jeewandara said the virus variant was identified from samples received from Colombo, Avissawella, Biyagama and Vavuniya. (Colombo Gazette)

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