COLOMBO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has detected nearly 60,000 COVID-19 infections in recent weeks which authorities believe may be caused by a rapid spread of what they called "Super Delta" variant, local media reported here Monday.
According to health officials, Sri Lanka's active COVID-19 patient count is 59,796 with an average of 4,000 new infections being detected daily. So far, 8,775 deaths have been reported from the virus.
Head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenapura University Neelika Malavige said the Delta variant of COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire in the country's capital Colombo and there was a great risk of it reaching other parts of the country.
In addition, Professor Malavige and Chandima Jeewandara of the university's department of allergy and immunology said that the Delta variant had gone beyond the Alpha variant and was spreading rapidly, while the variant that was newly spreading in the country could be a "Super Delta" variant.
Jeewandara said if the vaccination drive met its target of 80 percent among eligible population by the end of September, there was hope of controlling it.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of a large-scale vaccination program with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructing authorities to finish inoculating all citizens above the age of 30 with the first doses by September. Enditem
