Sri Lanka fights virus with Buddhist holy water

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s most sacred Buddhist temple deployed helicopters on Friday to sprinkle holy water across the Indian Ocean island in a spiritual offensive against the coronavirus pandemic.

The two helicopters sprinkled water that had been blessed during a week-long chanting of special stanzas at the central pilgrim city of Kandy. "We hope the virus situation will be under control after this blessing," the chief lay custodian of the Temple of the Tooth," Pradeep Nilanga Dela told AFP.

He said the first two sorties were carried out on Friday covering the southern and western parts of the island, with further deployments planned in the coming days. One of the helicopters flew over the main international airport just north of the capital, the gateway for the virus to enter the island.

Almost the entire fleet of the national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, could be seen parked as flights have been drastically slashed. Sri Lanka has also banned any incoming airline passengers, but has allowed foreign governments to arrange charter flights to take back some 17,000 foreign tourists.

The country which is under an indefinite curfew has declared 106 cases of the virus. The Buddhist hierarchy initiated the spiritual drive against the pandemic last week as more cases were reported.