COLOMBO –Sri Lanka recorded 54 Covid-related fatalities on Tuesday (8), the highest number of deaths reported in a single day, taking the fatality count to 1843.
In a convoluted method of recording Covid-deaths, the Department of Government Information attributed the record number of deaths to a time span extending to nearly a month, from May 10 to June 7, noting no deaths were reported on Tuesday. A similar statement the previous day said no deaths were reported on Monday (7), but four deaths from Monday had been added to Tuesday’s report.
The Department of Government Information, in a statement quoting the Director-General of Health Services, identified the deceased as 22 female and 32 males, 15 of them in the age group 70 to 79, and 11 in the age group 60 to 69.
The statement said 46 had died while being treated in various designated hospitals, six had died in their residences and two had died on admission to hospital. Cause of death in most cases has been identified as COVID-19 infection associated with COVID Pneumonia.
Tuesday also saw the 2637 new cases being confirmed, taking the virus tally to 210, 661, with 178,259 recoveries and 30,613 receiving treatment in various hospitals across the country.
Health authorities have been scrambling to build new health facilities while ratcheting up a vaccination drive, mainly using Sputnik vaccine from Russia and Sinopharm from China. All the confirmed cases on Tuesday were linked to the New Year cluster.
Sri Lanka has seen a surge in daily cases over the past few weeks, forcing authorities to extend the movement restrictions that amount to unofficial island-wide curfews until June 14.
-ENCL