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Borders opening despite new strain 

13 Jan 2021

  • No change in plans, say Health and Tourism Ministries 

  By Pamodi Waravita and Ruwan Laknath Jayakody   Sri Lanka is still on course to reopen its international borders on 21 January, despite the report that has identified a new strain of Covid-19 through the genome sequencing of a British national that recently tested positive for the virus. Considering the reports about the new strain of Covid-19 being detected in the sample of a British citizen who recently arrived in Colombo, Ministry of Health Public Health Services Deputy Director General Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Morning that the Health Ministry still supports the scheduled reopening of borders on 21 January. However, he added that it is possible plans could change depending on the situation. “We are continuing discussions with the Ministry of Tourism, since things could change at any moment,” said Dr. Herath. Furthermore, when questioned about the possibility of another lockdown due to the ability of the new variant to spread rapidly, Dr. Herath said that another lockdown is highly unlikely. A Ministry of Tourism spokesperson, speaking to The Morning in this regard, said that they have been informed by the Health Ministry that as long as the biological travel bubble is maintained in a secure manner, there is no issue with reopening the borders. However, he elaborated that, with regard to the new strain, the Health Ministry is responsible for informing Tourism Ministry officials about any potential risks on where the bio-bubble could harm the community. “If the Health Ministry tells us to not reopen the borders, we would have to listen. It is their responsibility,” he further added. Meanwhile, when contacted about the nature of the B117 strain of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes Covid-19 – a variant which has now been detected in Sri Lanka from a patient visiting from the UK – the Ministry of Health Medical Research Institute’s Department of Virology National Influenza Centre (Respiratory Virus Laboratories) Lead In Charge and Consultant Virologist Dr. Chrishan Jude Samantha Jayamaha explained that when compared to other strains of the said virus, this particular strain was “highly transmissible”. “For example, Japan has detected a strain that came from Brazil, while South Africa too has detected a variant. There are mutations or changes to the virus, which are, in comparison to what is in circulation, sometimes more transmissible, and sometimes not so. Sometimes there are overlaps. This will happen, as this is a complex virus.” However, he noted that from a public health awareness perspective, the underlying methods concerning the related aspects of prevention, destruction, and protection, whatever the strain, remained the same. When questioned as to what the Government should decide in the context of a new strain being detected in the backdrop of the country’s borders being opened up for tourist travel, Dr. Jayamaha emphasised that this was a decision to be taken by those in charge of epidemiology and public health. However, Ministry of Health Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera told The Morning that the country cannot be closed due to the identification of a single case of the new strain. “We cannot close the country just because of one case. We do genome sequencing to determine whether these new strains are entering the country. Once we identify that a person tests positive for the new strain, we take the necessary precautions by quarantining them,” Samaraweera said. In this instance, there is no risk of community spread, as the UK citizen had adhered to all quarantine rules after coming into the country, assured Dr. Samaraweera. Moreover, Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said that the risk of the new variant entering the community through tourists would only materialise if the health guidelines are not followed correctly, such as locals intermingling with tourists, or through different bio-bubbles mixing with each other. In this regard, Public Health Inspector’s Union (PHIU) of Sri Lanka Secretary M. Baalasooriya told The Morning that although the health guidelines issued for tourists are strict, they are wary of the potential relaxation of these guidelines following 21 January. “We have given our increased commitment to the fight against Covid-19 for almost a year now. However, we have not been consulted at any stage regarding the reopening of borders. We and all sectors of the economy have barely lifted our heads after these two lockdowns. We are cautious of these decisions taken to reopen the country for tourists,” said Baalasooriya. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura laboratory, which carries out the sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, identified the new UK SARS-CoV-2 variant in one of the samples obtained from a flight from the UK. This virus has certain specific mutations. Different variants have been reported from several countries, with the first being identified in the UK during the final week of 2020.

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