Hospitals have been filled with patients while crematoriums have also been working round the clock to cremate the dead…reports Asian Lite News.
The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka surpassed the 10,000 mark on Monday, reaching 10,140, after 189 more deaths were reported, official figures from the health ministry showed here.
According to the health ministry, the total number of COVID-19 patients was 462,767 while the active cases rose to 68,070.
Sri Lanka is facing a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections, and health workers said that the rise in patients in recent weeks was attributed to the Delta variant with the capital Colombo being the epicenter.
Hospitals have been filled with patients while crematoriums have also been working round the clock to cremate the dead.
Health workers have warned that the situation may reach a peak in the coming weeks, and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible.
Sri Lanka is under a countrywide quarantine curfew until Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, four million doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines from China have arrived in Sri Lanka, as the island nation is in the midst of a large scale inoculation program against the virus.
The country’s Health Ministry said the vaccines arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport from China’s capital Beijing on Sunday and were handed over to health authorities, reports Xinhua news agency.
Namal Rajapaksa, the Minister of Youth and Sports, said the vaccines will be used to administer the second doses in several districts and made available to inoculate people of the 20-30-year age groups in the Western Province as well as in the Galle district in southern Sri Lanka.
State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana said the new arrival was the largest quantity of vaccines that Sri Lanka was able to procure in one consignment.
The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka said that with the arrival of the doses on Sunday, Sri Lanka has received 22 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines till date.
According to official figures, 10,017,747 people have received their first Sinopharm doses while 7,318,575 have received both jabs.
Other vaccines being administered in the country are AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik V.
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