Sri Lankan hospitals running out of space as COVID numbers surge

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan hospitals are running out of space and beds due to a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, said Deputy Director-General Public Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath.

"When we look at the COVID numbers for the past two weeks, it appears that the figures have doubled," he told News 1st on Monday (7).

Dr. Herath noted that hospitals are continuing to make arrangements for COVID-19 patients with 14,000 beds on standby and 6,000 beds in use, in order to avoid inconvenience to the other patients.

According to Dr. Hemantha Herath of the 70 ICU beds allocated for COVID-19 patients, only 59 are being used at present.

"The surge in cases is not a good sign. It is important for all to support us to prevent the spread of cases," he added.