LNP – Health Ministry concerned over notable spike in COVID cases

With the number of COVID cases surpassing 600 mark yesterday (04) after two weeks, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said they were highly concerned about the abrupt increase in cases.

Addressing a news briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau today, he said it was too early to arrive at conclusions whether what exactly led to the rise in cases.

“However, we expected the cases to swell especially after a festive season. In a pandemic situation, natural fluctuations could always occur. Nevertheless, we are yet to ascertain the actual cause of the dramatic increase,” Dr. Herath urged.

“We have no assurance that cases would continue torise or not. However, we are taking measures with the support of relevant stakeholders to mitigate the situation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Herath said there was no move either to alter or hide statistics related to COVID-19 cases.

He said this in response to a query raised by a journalist whether it is because of lesser number PCR tests that keep the COVID cases in Sri Lanka at a low level, despite cases across the globe have begun to surge in unprecedented numbers.

The previous instance where COVID cases crossed the 600 mark was on December 22.