Sri Lanka’s health authorities warn Omicron becomes dominant variant

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s health authorities on Friday said with a rise in the number of Omicron infected patients, the new variant was soon becoming dominant that would overtake the Delta variant in the country.

To date, over 160 people have been infected with the Omicron variant, but the number was much higher than recorded, officials from the Health Ministry said. Health authorities have urged people to curtail their movement to avert a massive COVID-19 outbreak in the country and to strictly follow all health guidelines.

“The sudden increase in the number of COVID-19 cases implies that Omicron is rapidly spreading in the country and the current situation could be a sign of a major outbreak in the near future.

Hence, it is imperative that people brace themselves,” COVID-19 Coordinator Anwar Hamdani was quoted by local media as saying. “The couple of things that people should do is to wear a mask properly and get the booster dose as soon as possible,” Hamdani added. Sri Lanka has seen a rise in daily COVID-19 cases with over 800 reported on Thursday and over 700 reported on Wednesday.

According to official figures, Sri Lanka has recorded 599,363 positive COVID-19 cases and 15,255 deaths since March 2020.