Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday said the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 variant of Coronavirus (COVID-19) found in India had been detected in capital Colombo.
Dr Chandima Jeewandara, Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of Sri Jayewardenepura University, said the variant was detected in five samples obtained from the Dematagoda area in Colombo.
He said the variant was earlier detected on two occasions in Sri Lanka but from quarantine centres and not within the community.
Scientists say this Delta variant was spreading more quickly than the Alpha variant.
Sri Lanka is under a strict nationwide travel restriction which would be lifted on June 21 at 4:00 a.m. local time.
Health officials said that within the past two months, over 100,000 new infections had been reported as Sri Lanka detected the new Delta and Alpha variants of the COVID-19 from quarantine centers and several areas.
In an attempt to bring down the infection rate, the government said it was planning to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of its population by August or September 2021.
Xinhua
