Media outlets in Sri Lanka published a video on Sunday of government ministers pouring “blessed water” into some of the country’s largest rivers in the hope it will reduce Chinese coronavirus infection rates.
Video footage circulating on social media showed Ministers Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Udaya Gammanpila, and Prasanna Ranatunga dunking pots filled with purportedly “blessed water” from bridges into several of the country’s rivers.
Some reports indicated that the water had been “blessed” by the personal doctor tending to Mahinda Rajapaksa, rather than the more traditional use of the powers of a Buddhist clergyman.
“What’s even more frightening is that this water was ‘blessed’ not say by the sangha, but by the PM’s personal physician. Cannot make this s*** up,” Sanjana Hattotuwa, the founder of the Sri Lankan media outlet Groundviews, wrote on Twitter in response to footage of Health Minister Wanniarachchi praying. “Try explaining that to someone not from Sri Lanka, as I had to today.”
It is not the first time that Sri Lankans have turned to superstition as part of their fight against the pandemic. In March, the country’s most sacred Buddhist temple known as the “Temple of the Tomb” deployed helicopters to sprinkle holy water over the island in the hope that it would help slow the rate of infection.
Sri Lanka has a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. As of Monday, the country has recorded 11,335 cases and 21 deaths, although the real figures may well be higher due to limited testing. The official figure works out to a confirmed death rate of less than one in a million. In the United States, this figure is over 700 deaths per million.
After months of successful containment, Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a surge in cases that has forced the government to shut down the capital of Colombo. The lockdown follows findings from a team of scientists at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura who warned that the country’s second wave has a mutation linked with high rates of transmission.
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