Detection of Omicron cases in SL so far

The highlights of the media briefing held at the Health Promotion Bureau.

The Health Ministry’s Head of the Division of Disaster Preparedness and Response, Dr. Hemantha Herath said: Apart from the first case (the woman who came back from Nigeria) detected with Omicron, three more have been reported this week. According to information from the Epidemiology Unit, one was a first contact of the woman who returned from

Nigeria; the second was a family member of an overseas returnee who tested positive when that person sought treatment for a respiratory condition; and the third was a tourist departing Sri Lanka. This tourist had come to

Sri Lanka two or three days earlier but his RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours before boarding the flight was negative. All the public places that he had gone to, are being traced by the health authorities of the Colombo Municipal Council. When asked whether schools have been closed due to children getting infected by COVID-19 – there are around 4 million students and only a few have tested positive. When asked about people who may have lost their vaccination cards – the vaccination data are stored in a database. The public can contact the Medical Officers of Health (MOHs) of their respective areas, submit their national identity card or passport and obtain another vaccination card.