Growing public health concerns in SL

SRI Lanka is seeing a resurgence of cases of SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) related respiratory conditions along with a massive surge in the cases of chikungunya and dengue fever. Added to this, there are also the other forms of seasonal influenza going around.

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According to the Ministry of Health, data from the World Health Organization (WHO), a global increase in the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has been reported since February 2025. Based on the International Respiratory Surveillance System, several countries, including Sri Lanka have seen a notable rise in COVID-19 cases in recent months.

In May 2023, the WHO officially declared the end of the COVID-19 global pandemic status but it is a known phenomenon for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to undergo genetic mutations during its transmission. The currently circulating variant reported in many countries in 2024 has been identified as a sub-lineage of a previously known genetic variant. In 2024, this same variant was detected in Sri Lanka as well. According to Sri Lanka’s Respiratory Surveillance System, during 2024, 3% of respiratory specimens tested for SARS-CoV-2 yielded positive results. This figure peaked at 9.6% in May 2024. The average positivity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far this year is approximately 2%, with a slight increase observed at present.