The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) urged the health authorities to assess the possible risk to Sri Lanka from the new Covid-19 variant, claiming that it should not be taken lightly in the midst of the country’s health service being in a crisis. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (21), the GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said that the Health Ministry should take steps to convene the Ministry’s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) to assess the risk of the new Covid-19 variant and to make the public aware of the consequences of the particular variant. He noted that the situation would be complicated unless the health authorities take possible actions at the earliest since the current context of the country is completely different from what it was during the previous Covid-19 outbreak. 

“We have to prepare for the worst situation despite the threat that we have. As we know, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently named it as a ‘variant of interest’. Definitely, it will have an impact on our country as well if it develops into a ‘variant of concern’. Therefore, we urge the Ministry to convene the ACCD and make a threat assessment. Then, we can make the people aware of the impact of the disease and the future actions,” he said. Dr. Aluthge further said that the Government should be attentive to this situation since the entire health sector is facing a huge crisis amidst a huge shortage of pharmaceuticals and human resources. 

He said that the country will need an extra effort if something will take place in an unprecedented manner. “We are currently facing a huge crisis with the shortage of medicines as well as human resources resultant from the massive exodus of doctors and other health professionals. As a result of that situation, it will be more dangerous if we have to face another pandemic. So, precautions must be taken by the Government to avoid the risk and to address the shortcomings in the sector,” he said.

Earlier this week, the WHO announced that it would step up its classification of the new Covid-19 variant JN.1 to a stand alone "variant of interest", after tracking the strain's rapid ascent around the world. Health officials have been careful to say that JN.1 has so far not been found to lead to different or more severe symptoms compared to the previous variants. However, the WHO said that JN.1's "rapidly increasing spread" in multiple parts of the world was enough to warrant ungrouping the strain from its slower moving ancestor BA.2.86. "JN.1 continues to be reported in multiple countries, and its prevalence has been rapidly increasing globally and now represents the vast majority of BA.2.86 descendent lineages reported," the WHO wrote.