Omicron becoming dominant variant here

According to the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant report issued by the Department, 160 new cases of Omicron and 22 new cases of Delta were detected from 182 samples.

TOPSHOT – School girls wait at the designated observation area after getting themselves inoculated with the dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus for the 12-15 years age group at an educational institution in Colombo on January 7, 2022. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)“These 182 samples were sequenced from the last week of December and the first week of January from the community and arrival and departure samples from the airport,” Dr. Jeewandara said.

He said that three sub lineages of Omicron namely BA 1, BA.2 and BA.3 had been identified in the world and out of them two had been detected in Sri Lanka. “The 160 Omicron cases include a mix of the two main Omicron lineages BA.1 and BA.2. BA.1 is detected in at least 113 countries and whereas BA.2 is directed in at least 30 countries. In Sri Lanka, Omicron sublineages were detected in the following locations. 139 cases of BA.1 were detected in Angoda, Colombo, Dehiwala, Galle, Kaduwela, Kandy, Matara, Minuwangoda, Negombo and Trincomalee. 17 cases of BA.2 and 4 cases of B.1.1.529 were detected in Colombo. 98 samples from Bandaranaike International Airport that were positive and were found to be infected with Omicron are from departure passengers and not arrival passengers while some of them were Sri Lankans and some were foreign nationals,” he explained.

“Different Delta sub lineages were detected in the following locations. 4 cases of AY.28 (Sri Lanka delta sub-lineage) were detected in Nugegoda. 10 cases of AY.104 (Sri Lanka delta sub-lineage) were detected in Colombo. Further, AY.25 and AY.114 were detected in Colombo. AY.5.3 was detected in Angoda whilst B.1.617.2 was detected in Angoda, Colombo, and Ratnapura,” he added.

Omicron becoming dominant variant here (msn.com)