COVID-19 deaths surpass 1000 as 2478 new cases confirmed
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka reached yet another grim milestone on Tuesday (18) with the COVID-19 fatality tally crossing the 1000 mark, as 34 deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 1015. Tuesday also saw the novel coronavirus tally inch towards 150,000 with 2478 new cases confirmed during the course of the day.
The Department of Government Information in a statement announcing the deaths identified deceased as 16 females and 18 males from various parts of the country and attributed the main cause of death to be Covid-pneumonia.
Tuesday’s confirmations of 2478 cases take Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 tally to 147,720, with 26,575 deemed active cases receiving treatment at various designated hospitals and hotels 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 impose movement restrictions that amount to unofficial island-wide curfews with brief intervals.
Earlier Tuesday, authorities declared May 24 and 25 special government holidays on top of the unofficial lockdown already in place from May 21 to 28 with a short respite on May 25.
With the health system in danger of being overrun, the government is set to introduce guidelines for asymptomatic patients to be treated at home, according to Army Commander Gen Shavendra Silva.
Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena is set release the finalized guidelines by Wednesday (19), Silva told the privately owned Swarnavahini network on Monday (17).
Earlier, State Minister for COVID-19 Control Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said Sri Lanka will begin “home management” of asymptomatic patients starting Monday, as new confirmations outpaced the rate at which treatment centres could be built.
However, patients developing respiratory difficulties will be hospitalized, she told reporters.
-ENCL/economynext.com