With the district of Vavuniya facing serious threats from the coronavirus pandemic, health officials have expressed their concerns over the indifference of the people towards the virus.
This comes as forty-five deaths have been recorded in the district in the first week of September alone.
When inquired about the spike in cases, one official said, “Deaths from coronavirus in Vavuniya are rising at great speed day by day.”
“Earlier the death rate was one per week, but the past week alone has witnessed forty-five deaths.”
“The death rate in the district is amongst the highest in the whole country,” he added.
The official then registered his concerns over the attitude of Vavuniya people towards the pandemic. “The death rates are soaring uncontrollably due to the carelessness of the people. They haven’t discerned its (the virus’) lethality. This is a very dangerous state of affairs.”
The official encouraged the people to follow social distancing measures even during getting vaccinations in medical centres. “If people crowd up in large numbers, vaccination centres might cause the virus to spread even further,” he cautioned. He reassured people that there were sufficent vaccines.