Coronavirus | Sri Lanka reports delta variant amid a daunting third wave
The HinduSri Lanka on Thursday detected the highly transmittable Delta or B.1.617.2 variant of COVID-19 in five patients, amid a stubborn third wave persisting through a near-month-long lockdown in the country. Speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, director of the unit, said: “The Delta variant comes with three main factors — it is highly transmittable, it causes severe disease, and it evades single dose vaccine,” he said. Observing it was “likely imported”, Dr. Jeewandara said: “Remember, the Delta variant has been detected not just in India, but in many other countries, including the U.K. and the U.S. “They get excluded at every level.” Poor wages and living conditions, along with a growing pool of jobless youth — who returned home in the last year — have exacerbated the impact of the pandemic in Badulla district in Sri Lanka’s Uva Province, which has a sizeable population of Malaiyaha Tamils working in the tea estates.