COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – The Sri Lankan Minister of Health, who has been criticized for consuming and endorsing an herbal syrup made by a wizard, has tested positive for COVID-19.
A health ministry official confirmed on Saturday that Pavithra Wanniarachchi became the highest-ranking official infected with the virus. She and her direct contacts have been asked to quarantine themselves.
Doctors have said there is no scientific basis for the syrup as a cure for the coronavirus. It is said to contain honey and nutmeg.
Thousands of people gathered in long lines in December in the city of Kegalle, northeast of the capital, Colombo, to get the syrup just days after Wanniarachchi and several other government officials publicly consumed it.
The syrup’s maker said he got the formula through his divine powers. In local media, he claimed that the Hindu goddess Kaali had appeared to him in a dream and given the recipe to save humanity from the coronavirus.
Sri Lankans are used to using both mainstream medicine and indigenous alternative medicines to cure ailments.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced on Saturday that Sri Lanka will receive the first stock of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine from India on January 27.
He said India is making this stock available for free and that his government is making arrangements to purchase more vaccines from India, China and Russia.
On Friday, Sri Lanka approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine amid warnings from doctors that primary health care workers must be vaccinated quickly to prevent the medical system from collapsing. The vaccine was the first to be approved for emergency use in Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Health says the vaccination will start in mid-February.
Sri Lanka has witnessed another outbreak of the disease in October, when two clusters – one centered around a garment factory and the other in the main fish market – sprang up in Colombo and the suburbs.
Sri Lanka has reported 52,964 cases with 278 deaths.
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This story has been corrected to show that the town where people lined up for the syrup was Kegalle.
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