Health trade unions warn against Delta variant

COLOMBO (News1st): Health trade unions have warned that the spread of the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant may force the country into a lockdown. "Ten percent of the infected cases are of the delta variant. The situation portrayed by the data is dangerous," Dr. Prasad Colambage, a central committee member of the Government Medical Officers Association said. Former health minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne pointed out that there is no point of strengthening the health sector if the decisions are made on a political level. "The actual number of COVID-19 cases in the country is three or five times more than the data released by the government," he told reporters. Dr. Hemantha Herath, the deputy director-general of health services said, that the situation cannot be taken lightly. "We must act cautiously because if these daily figures reach 2000 or 2500 in the coming days, we will have to face a situation that we faced in May," he said. The World Health Organization says that the global tally of COVID-19 cases could exceed 200 million in the next two weeks if these trends continue. It has observed that global COVID-19 deaths had increased by 21 percent in the week from the 19th to the 25th of July, compared to the previous week. In a weekly report, the global health body said the highest number of deaths were observed in the Americas and South-East Asia Regions.