Sri Lanka's COVID-19 death toll surpasses 500

Colombo [Sri Lanka], March 8 (ANI/Xinhua): The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed the 500 mark in Sri Lanka after five more deaths were reported on Sunday, official statistics from the Health Ministry showed Monday.
To date, 502 deaths from the virus have been reported in the island country while the total number of positive patients has reached 85,695.
Out of the total infected since March 2020, 82,059 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 3,134.
Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of a mass vaccination program as it began vaccinating all those above the age of 30 years in the urban Western Province from mid February after vaccinating front line workers and health workers with the Astra Zeneca doses.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's senior advisor Lalith Weeratunga said recently that regular and consistent supplies were the greatest constraint faced by the country in terms of COVID-19 immunisation.
Weeratunga said the government aims to vaccinate at least 13 million people who are above 30 years old, which means the country requires 26 million doses of vaccines.
Sri Lanka has set up 4,000 vaccination centers across the country and is presently concentrating on the epicentre of the epidemic, namely the districts of Colombo and Gampaha. (ANI/Xinhua)