COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has begun mass cremations to clear a backlog of dead bodies from Covid-19 as cases surge across the island, officials said today.
Daily virus infections in the country have doubled in a month to more than 2,500 with nearly 100 deaths, putting a huge strain on hospitals.
The Colombo Municipality began mass cremations yesterday evening, disposing 15 corpses at the Colombo General Cemetery after the island’s main hospital said it has no more freezer space.
It was the first mass cremation since December when the government overruled religious objections and cremated 15 members of the Muslim minority, including a 20-day-old baby.
Following local and international protests, the government then allowed Muslims to be buried in a remote corner of the island’s east coast, in accordance with Islamic traditions.
The Public Health Inspectors (PHI) union said bodies of Covid-19 patients piled up at hospitals over the weekend as crematoriums working around the clock were unable to cope with a rapid rise in deaths.
“At this rate, we may have to build new crematoriums,” PHI union chief Upul Rohana told reporters in Colombo.
There were 20 bodies without refrigeration at the Colombo north hospital, while Panadura south hospital has over 50.
At the Colombo National hospital’s mortuary, all 66 freezers are filled and bodies are piling up on trollies and tables, hospital sources said.
Throughout the pandemic, the state has disposed of these bodies and has not released them to the respective families.
Rohana said the surge in infections also meant that contact tracing of patients is no longer practical.
Coronavirus restrictions were tightened on Friday as reports emerged of Covid-19 patients dying while awaiting admission to overcrowded hospitals.
The government says state ceremonies and public gatherings are banned until September 1.
Some 11 million people out of the population of 21 million have received the first vaccine dose, while 2.93 million had received both doses as of yesterday.
Sri Lanka has recorded 5,107 deaths to date and almost 330,000 infections, according to official data. But experts say the true figure is much higher.
The new wave comes after the government relaxed restrictions in April to allow celebrations for the traditional Sinhala and Tamil new years. Regulations were tightened once more in May and eased again on July 10. – AFP, August 9, 2021
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