It is doubtful whether there is any public concern about the coronavirus. However, the risk of the virus spread is gradually increasing, the Government Medical Officers' Association said.

Addressing the media, GMOA General Committee Member Dr. Prasad Kolabage said different genetically modified COVID variants have already been identified in this country. 

There is a risk of increasing the number of COVID positive cases with the identification of new OVID variants from different parts of the country, Dr. Kolabage said. 

Therefore, it is paramount to take immediate action to increase the number of PCR tests and Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) conducted in a day, while streamlining the process of identifying the positive patients by the Health Ministry, he said.

"All people used to rely only on the vaccination drive, but it is suspicious that other preventive measures are in progress. People seem to forget to follow the health guidelines and the attention to the virus is getting less," Dr. Kolabage said.

"Attention should be drawn to the people who have already vaccinated and how their immunity react to the virus. Studies should be done over the protection getting from vaccines. If we do not receive the expected protection from the vaccines, it would be a massive problem, "he said.

Therefore, we should not rely only on the vaccine and should take other precautionary measures to prevent getting infected by the virus, Dr. Kolabage added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)