Sri Lanka's Covid caseload tops 223K

Colombo, June 14 (IANS) Sri Lanka's overall Covid-19 caseload increased to 223,638 on Monday after over 2,300 new patients were detected in the last 24 hours, official figures from the Health Ministry revealed.Out of the total figures, the active patient count stood at 32,955, while a total of 2,136 deaths have been reported from the virus, reports Xinhua news agency.The Ministry said that an average of 2,200 patients were being detected on a daily basis since April as the the country was in the midst of a third wave of the pandemic.Sri Lanka is under a strict nationwide travel restriction which will be lifted on June 21 at 4 a.m.Within the past two months alone, over 100,000 new infections have been reported as Sri Lanka has detected the Delta and Alpha Covid variants across several areas, health officials said.In an aim to bring down the infection rate, the government said it is planning to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of its population by August or September this year.
--IANS ksk/