According to an independent technical expert committee appointed by the World Health Organization’s Sri Lanka office, strict restrictions until the 18th of next month could save between 7,500 and 10,000 lives.

The panel recommended that immediate action should be taken to extended the current restrictions untill September 18 to save lives.

According to the committee’s latest report more than 90 percent of the samples tested so far show that the delta strain of the new corona virus has spread in the Western Province as well as other provinces in the country.

The Independent Technical Expert Committee, chaired by the Sri Lanka Office of the World Health Organization (WHO), met yesterday and released its new report, which includes key observations, technical and recommendations for controlling the pandemic.