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Jaffna crematorium to operate 24 hours

15 Aug 2021

By Pamodi Waravita  The only electricity-run crematorium in the Jaffna District will function on a 24-hour basis from this week to cope with the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths, The Morning learnt. Official sources at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital told The Morning yesterday (15) that the hospital’s mortuary has about 12 bodies of Covid-19 victims which are yet to be cremated as the Jaffna crematorium can only cremate four bodies per day. To overcome this problem the Jaffna Municipal Council has decided to function the crematorium on a 24-hour cycle from today (16) onwards. The Sunday Morning reported yesterday (15) that both the Colombo General Cemetery and the Kandy General Cemetery are facing a risk of technical failures as they are operating at full capacity. Ministry of Health Covid-19 Operations and Medical Technical Services Director Dr. Anwar Hamdani has said that the Ministry is working on increasing the healthcare capacity, so that the crematorium workload would be reduced accordingly. Health Ministry Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath stated that the dead bodies have piled up at the morgues since there are medico-legal issues as well. Meanwhile, a five-acre land has been newly allocated at Irakkamam in the Ampara District for the burial of Covid-19 victims, as the current Oddamavadi burial site is nearing full capacity.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of the Covid-19 virus is at least two times as transmissible as the original virus. Sri Lanka is currently facing a severe spread of the Delta variant in all districts. The Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) noted that 3,263 new cases and 160 new deaths were reported on Saturday (14) due to the virus.  


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