Sri Lanka faces 4 mutations of Delta variant as COVID-19 spreads
4355 new cases, 194 deaths recorded on Monday
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s medical experts on Monday (23) said the Delta variant of the COVID-19, which is spreading across the country, has acquired four mutations due to the high transmission rate, but the Health Promotion Bureau said it has not been informed about a fourth mutation.
Director Health Promotion Bureau, Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa, told reporters on Monday, his office has not received confirmation of a 4th mutation and maintained, officially he was aware of only three mutations detected in the country.
However, he accepted the data on the mutation, revealed by Professor Neelika Malavige, Head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenapura University, must be accurate, as she gets the information first, but maintained his office has not received a formal communication as yet.
Professor Malavige, revealing that four mutations were found following gene sequencing, said it did not have any effect on vaccine efficacy and there was no urge to panic until the implications of the mutations were established.
She was quoted in a local English language weekend paper as saying, “One of the Delta mutations (A-222V) is seen in many countries, another (A-1078S) is found in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, while the other two (A-701S and R-24C) are only found in Sri Lanka. These are just mutations in the virus and that does not make these viruses new variants.”
Professor Malavige said they had identified many other mutations in the previous Alpha variant and in the variant of the Sri Lankan lineage (responsible for the second wave), which were of no significance. “Therefore, although some of the Delta variant viruses seen in Sri Lanka might have certain unique mutations, there is no reason to be alarmed,” she assured.
She said the mutations were highly unlikely to have any effect on vaccine efficacy and requested people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Last week, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana had told Parliament the three mutations of the Delta variant had been detected in Sri Lanka and identified them as SA 222 – V, SA 701-S and SA 1078-S.
He described them as spike mutations of the Delta variant and attributed them to be a possible cause of the rapid rise in the number of people contracting the virus.
Meanwhile, Covid-fatalities and new cases continued the upward spike, with 194 deaths and 4355 new cases detected, the highest yet, on Monday, taking Sri Lanka’s fatality count to 7,560 and the virus count to 385,487, with over 43,000 active cases.
Sri Lanka is currently under a quarantine curfew scheduled to be lifted on Aug. 30, while hospitals are exhausted with rising admissions and oxygen dependency has risen among the patients.
– Xinhua/ENCL