No new Omicron cases detected in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Ministry of Health is conducting further tests to trace the contacts of the COVID-19 patient confirmed to have contracted the Omicron variant of the virus in Sri Lanka, the Health Promotion Bureau said on Saturday (Dec. 11). "Although the 1st case of the Omicron variant was detected on the 3rd of December, the patient had arrived in Sri Lanka on 24th of November; therefore, the samples with regard to contact surveillance have been sent to laboratories," Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa, the Director of the Health Promotion Bureau told News 1st. According to Dr. Batuwanthudawa, the genome sequencing to confirm the presence of the new Omicron variant takes around 7 to 10-days. "Laboratories have not confirmed any new cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus in Sri Lanka, since the detection of the 1st case on December 3rd," Dr. Batuwanthudawa emphasized.