Medical experts say that pregnant women and children are more vulnerable to the new COVID-19 variant currently spreading in Sri Lanka.
Speaking to the media yesterday Director of Family Health Bureau (FHB) Consultant Dr. Chithramalee De Silva said that 70 COVID-19 infected pregnant women are currently being treated at hospitals. Dr. Chithramalee urged parents to provide homemade food for their children which boosts their immunity.
Meanwhile, Head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Prof. Neelika Malavige stated that the country is taking all possible measures to prevent the new “double mutant” variant which is currently spreading in India from entering the country.
“We are on alert for the ‘double mutant’ COVID variant currently spreading in India and studies are being conducted on how to detect this new variant,” she added.
Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera stressed the importance of managing overseas arrivals to prevent the entry of new variants of COVID 19 currently spreading in various countries.
“Since a large number of individuals who have returned from overseas have been tested positive during their quarantine period it has been decided to limit the number of passengers that can arrive on a single flight to 75,” he said.
As per the statistics of the Epidemiology Unit, 967 more Coronavirus patients had recovered and were discharged from hospital by yesterday evening increasing the total number of recoveries to 98,209.
The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country thus far remained at 111,753 by yesterday evening while 12,848 patients are currently under medical care at hospitals and treatment centres.
