The local SARS-CoV2 variant of B.1.411 lineage, which had been reported only in Sri Lanka till mid-January, has since been detected in Australia and Singapore, The Morning learnt yesterday (14). As at yesterday, Australia had a total Covid-19 case count of 28,898 and 909 deaths, while Singapore had 2,969 cases and 29 deaths in total. Meanwhile, the USJ Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, Allergy Immunology, and Cell Biology Unit detected the UK variant B.1.1.7, which has a higher transmissibility than the Sri Lankan variant, in Sri Lanka last week. After sequencing 92 SARS-CoV2 viruses from January to the first week of February, 16 viruses belonging to this UK variant were detected in Colombo, Avissawella, and in quarantine centres. Three out of 16 viruses were detected from the community, while the rest were from quarantine centres.

Source: The Nation February 14, 2021 22:52 UTC