Fears of Lambda variantIn a new development, Sri Lanka’s health authorities last week announced that they were taking steps to ascertain the presence of highly contagious and aggressive Lambda variant (C.37), which has not been reported from Sri Lanka so far, as fears are rising that it may already be in the country. Sri Lanka started the discourse on the Lambda variant in a context where Alpha and Delta variants, which are also known as the UK variant and the Indian variants, respectively, are spreading rapidly. In addition, the Lambda variant had been reported from European countries including Germany, UK, Italy and France. “Authorities in Peru reported that 81% of Covid-19 cases sequenced since April 2021 were associated with the Lambda variant. Some researchers have claimed that the available vaccines are effective against the Lambda variant as well.

Source: The Nation July 11, 2021 16:41 UTC