Sri Lanka struggles to respond effectively to Covid-19 third wave

As several countries with access to vaccines lift restrictions and seem to be coming out of the pandemic, Covid-19 continues to pose significant challenges in South Asia and beyond, and Sri Lanka has proved to be no exception. Amnesty International has found that with ad hoc plans for vaccine distribution, challenges in procuring the required quantity of vaccines, and serious failures in addressing the needs of most at-risk populations like prisoners and factory-workers, the Sri Lankan government has failed to guarantee the right to health. The roles of the government of Sri Lanka and the international community are critical at this juncture, when Sri Lanka is struggling with a third wave of the virus, and the number of daily cases have risen to more than 2500 a day in a population of just 21 million people. In contrast, Taiwan has registered 218 cases a day in a population of 23 million, and Burkina Faso has registered zero cases a day in a population of 21 million.

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