S-Drop Covid-19 virus detected in Sri Lanka | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

S-Drop Covid-19 virus detected in Sri Lanka

25 April, 2021

The S-Drop (S gene dropout) Covid-19 virus was detected for the very first time in Sri Lanka in last November from a patient from Wellawatte. The second such case was detected from a patient in last December, the Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni told the media in Colombo.

Eight Covid-19 patients with S-Drop Virus were found a few days ago, he added. According to Sri Jayewardenepura University’s Immunology and Molecular Medicine Department Director Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, researches are now being conducted to ascertain the present variant of the Covid-19. It looks like the variant found in the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine Professor Prof. Neelika Malavige said a new variant of Covid-19 has arrived in Sri Lanka and the details will be announced in the next few days.

It is spreading rapidly and infecting five or six people but in the past the Covid-19 virus did not spread fast and infected only one or two persons.

The new variant found in Sri Lanka is airborne and it can infect a person within around one and half hours once released to the air inside a building by an infected person.

Therefore, it is essential to wear a proper mask accurately covering both nose and mouth whenever entering into a building. The risk of not wearing a mask inside a building is very much greater than not wearing a mask outside a building, she added.

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