Colombo: Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed naval ships to India to avoid delays in taking oxygen, it is needed to fulfill the lack of supply in hospitals, after a rapid surge in the Covid-19 case in the country.
Sri Lanka has recorded more than 3.58 cases of lakh coronavirus, while the dead have touched 6,263.
Sri Lanka Navy Ship (SLNS) Shakti left the Port of East Trincalee in the morning and headed for the Port of Chennai, India, Lanka Navy said.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ordered the Navy to bring the supply of oxygen from India to minimize delays, he said.
Last week, the Minister of Health who then Pavithra Wanniaraichchi told reporters that the government would order medical grade oxygen from India to meet the current needs with a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases.
He said 100 metric tons of oxygen would be imported from India at first and more orders would be placed depending on the need.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation of Channa JayaSumana told Parliament on Tuesday that the three Delta variant mutations that spread quickly from Covid-19 were detected in Lanka.
Three mutations – SA222V, SA701S and SA1078S – show changes to their surge protein.
“This might be the reason for a surge in the current surge,” Jayasumana said.
He said that the researchers had confirmed that the tension of Delta SARS-COV-2, a virus that caused Covid-19, was the dominant variant in Sri Lanka.
This spreads 60-70 percent faster than the previous strain, he said.
“This raises more symptoms and improvements in patients who depend on oxygen,” Jayasumana said.
Health experts have called for the total locking to combat the situation because hospitals quickly exceed their capacity.
However, the government has rejected the call because of the painful economy.
New Health Minister, Kehelyiya Rambukwella, said that night at 12 am to 4am will be enough to curb a surge in Covid case at this time.
The curfew came into force from midnight Tuesday.
A group of Lankan health experts, who made independent experts, previously said that patients depend on oxygen increased significantly from 528 weeks ago to 646 on August 12.
Health experts have warned that the number of cases of Covid-19 will increase to 6,000 per day until mid-September and death will peak up to 220 per day in mid-October.
According to the current figures from the Ministry of Health, the average half of the anticipated increase.