COVID-19: Sri Lanka declares lockdown amid Delta surge; President to address nation

Sri Lanka has declared a 10-day lockdown, beginning Friday night, to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which is wreaking havoc on the island nation's hospitals, morgues, and crematoriums. After recording its greatest single-day death toll of 187 and 3,793 cases on Wednesday, Sri Lanka was forced to cave to tremendous pressure from medical professionals. Since the outbreak began last year, the government has reported a total of 372,079 infections, with 6,604 deaths. According to health experts, the true cost was at least twice as high. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with members of the presidential task team on coronavirus on Friday afternoon and was set to address the country that evening. Channa Jayasumana, a junior minister of health, described the Delta variant of the virus as a tremendous bomb that has exploded in Colombo and is spreading further.

Doctors and trade unions pushed the government to impose lockdown

To stop the spread of illnesses, medical professionals, religious leaders, lawmakers, and business leaders have called for an emergency statewide lockdown. Doctors and trade unions frequently pushed the government to impose a lockdown, claiming that hospitals and morgues were at capacity. The administration postponed the move due to the weak economy. According to the Global COVID tracker, daily infections have more than doubled in a month to an average of 3,897. As the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads across the community, hospitals in the country of 21 million people are overflowing with COVID-19 patients. 

Many limitations are already in place, including the closure of schools, gyms, and swimming pools, as well as the prohibition of weddings and musical performances. From Monday, authorities enforced a night curfew, banning mobility from 10 pm to 4 am every day. Traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in mid-April have been blamed for Sri Lanka's third wave of coronavirus pandemic.

The government reopened the country in June after a month-long lockdown, depending on an extensive vaccination campaign as its major approach to combat the spread. A quarter of Sri Lanka's population has been fully vaccinated, with the bulk receiving the Sinopharm vaccine from China. Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Russia's Sputnik V injections have also been approved by Sri Lanka.

21 million people received two doses of vaccine

Despite the fact that more than five million people out of a population of 21 million received two doses of vaccine, the virus has infected more people than state and private sector hospitals can handle. Last week, the authorities resorted to mass cremations when bodies began to pile up at multiple state hospitals.

Image- AP