In the South Asian Region, the country that has most successfully controlled the pandemic is Sri Lanka. Minister Namal Rajapaksa on COVID-19 management: declares victory in South Asia prematurely
To evaluate this claim, Factcheck. lk looked exclusively at Our World in Data (OWID) statistics on COVID-19 to facilitate cross country comparison (as of 10th July).the minister does not state his metrics of success. Factcheck. lk evaluated the claim using three criteria: (1) number of deaths per million, (2) number of tests per thousand alongside the associated positivity rate, and (3) percentage of population vaccinated.
Criteria 1: The number of deaths recorded as due to COVID-19 per million in Sri Lanka (161.9) was higher than in Afghanistan (142.9), Bangladesh (98.3), Bhutan (1.3), and Pakistan (102.2).
Criteria 2: The number of tests conducted per thousand in Sri Lanka (195.5) was lower than India (310.9) and the Maldives (1,989.9); while Sri Lanka also had a higher positivity rate (0.119) than India (0.023), and the Maldives (0.022).
Criteria 3: In terms of the number of people fully vaccinated per hundred, Sri Lanka (6.4) was second only to the Maldives (40.88). However, when considering the number of people per hundred who had received at least one dose, Sri Lanka (17.53) was once again behind both the Maldives (58.86) and India (21.97).
Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi distributed nine Nissan vans among the provinces at the Ministry of Health premises with the objective of maintaining the proper control and control of Covid and improving the health systems. These vans, valued at around Rs. 90 million, were funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Health System Improvement Project and coordinated by the Ministry of Health.