No mechanism to stop South African variant entering Sri Lanka: Deputy Health DG

Claiming that the new Covid variant detected in South Africa could enter Sri Lanka at any time, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said today that there was no mechanism even elsewhere in the world to prevent any of the variants entering a specific country.

He told reporters that a new variant could be identified in the country only if it was detected through random sample taken for testing. 

"Any of the Covid variant can enter Sri Lanka. We cannot stop it. The issue is, we can know that the particular variant has entered Sri Lanka only if it was detected through a random sample after it spread in the country. There is no any other mechanism elsewhere in the world where we could get to know it in advance and stop that variant entering a country," he said.

Dr. Herath said majority of the Covid mortalities  among those who had not received their vaccines to shield themselves against the pandemic and added that more people could perish due to complications in the future if they did not receive the vaccine.

When asked who would take the responsibility for not vaccinating those who are aged above 60 at the proper time, he said it was an absurd exercise by trying to find who was responsible and pointed out that the Health Ministry has given the opportunity to get the vaccines. "We cannot force someone to get the vaccine, we will not do it either. We continuously appeal to everyone to go and get the vaccine without delay," he said.

When asked whether it is possible to call this wave as a New Year cluster anymore, he said it was only a term and added that many of the patients who were detected so far were identified as patients of contacts.

“There is no use arguing over this matter. We should work together to save ourselves from the common enemy,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana)