Despite the lockdown in many countries and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives due to COVID-19 pandemic, our government was carrying out development activities in the country by strengthening the people's, Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

She said this while addressing a Bar Association (BASL) meeting at the Godakawela area in Ratnapura.

"We have successfully curbed the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot keep the country under lockdown. We had spent at least Rs. 80 million on daily PCR tests. At that time, we only had one hospital for treatment; that was IDH. When a large number of patients were reported daily, we implemented a formal programme to strengthen the health sector," the Minister said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)